Stars, Space and Surrey School Girls
by starrycat05
Summary: Alice Miller was never the sci-fi type of girl. In fact, quite the opposite. So being sucked into a galaxy far, far away, not the best possible thing that could have happened... Light, comic ramble through the Star Wars trilogy with an out-of-her-time heroine.
1. In Which We Meet Our Heroine

Hello lovely people! So I know I'm way behind on my Dark Knight story, but that is because I have been working my arse off on this: a trilogy-spanning, OC-insert, Mary-Sue parodying Star Wars fic! Yay!

This story is very, **very **heavily inspired by FebruarySong's 'The Awkward Adventures of Meghan Whimblesby', a LOTR fic that is extremely funny - if you like what I write (and you like LOTR), I would definitely recommend it.

Finally, I hope you enjoy this fic, and don't take it too seriously. I didn't.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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Alice Miller was never the sci-fi type of girl. In fact, quite the opposite.

Her main passion was history, and her favourite book/film genre was romance and Westerns. She was nineteen years old, lived in a well-to-do part of Surrey, England, and was about to leave for university. Fairly pretty (not that it really mattered when you went to an all-girls educational establishment, as anyone will tell you) and fairly clever, she hid a slightly eccentric streak behind an aura of quiet diligence.

She was one of those girls who, when her parents went in for parent's evenings, the teachers couldn't find much to talk about. The only extracurricular activity she had ever shone at was gymnastics, in her slightly younger days. Evidence of her ever-so-slightly more crazy side could be unearthed on the very rare occasions when her friends managed to get some alcohol in her…or, more commonly, when they gave her chocolate.

One of Alice's friends, however, was a sci-fi devotee, a superhero, comic-book, fantasy, space-ship fanatic. Think, dear readers, of every sci-fi film you have ever seen. Alice would vouch for the fact that her friend Emily had seen them all (within a certain capacity, obviously – hyperbole and all that).

And so it was that one night as the stars shone brightly through her open window, about two weeks into the summer holidays that Alice, sitting on top of her wardrobe and watching '_The Good, The Bad and The Ugly_' on her iPod, heard her phone vibrate.

"Bugger," Alice muttered, peering over the edge of her wardrobe to try and spot her phone on the bed below. The wardrobe had been a favourite hiding spot since she was a child – the place she'd gone whenever she fought with her parents, usually threatening never to come down again. Of course, her self-imposed exile would normally only last until she got hungry. Luckily for the wardrobe, she hadn't grown much since then.

Her phone continued to buzz violently, so she closed her book, and with an ease born of long practice, hopped lightly from the wardrobe and onto her bed. Ducking down, she grabbed her phone, "Hello?"

"Ally!"

She grinned, and settled herself cross-legged on her bed, "Hi Emi."

"How are you, my duckling?"

"I object to being referred to as a baby bird."

"Why-ever would you object to that? Anyway, shut up. Are you busy tomorrow?"

"Don't think so. Why?"

"Because I was thinking we could rob a bank. I want you to come round to mine, numpty. We're going to have…wait for it…a movie day."

Alice narrowed her eyes, "What _kind _of movie day?" There was an extremely suspicious pause on the other end of the phone, "Oh, you know. Allll kinds of movies!"

"Emi…"

"Alright! I want you to watch the original Star Wars films. Pleeeeeease, I promise you'll like it, they're actually really funny, honestly-"

"That's what you said about the original Batman films, and I think we all remember how that went down."

"Oh. Yeah…well, how was I supposed to know that Tash had a clown phobia? And even if I had known, which I honestly did not, I wouldn't have thought the Joker would be enough to set her off. He's not even that scary..."

Alice snorted, "You are not wrong there."

"Come on, Ally, it'll be great, really. We'll just watch the first one and if you don't like it, then we can watch something else – you can pick. Even if it's another boring historical epic, like that one about the King of France with the twin brother..."

"You liked that one," Alice said, hurt, "it had Leonardo DiCaprio in it."

"Oh yeah. Anyway, I promise I will suffer through whatever dull film you choose, _if _you watch '_A New Hope_'. Fair?"

She huffed a sigh, pretending to think about it, "Well…alright. Fine." She winced as her friend gave a high-pitched shriek of triumph and wondered if it was too late to backtrack.

"Yes! Great. Come around early okay? We can watch a film or two, then have lunch then watch some more. See you tomorrow!"

"Can't wait," Alice said, with an overly dramatic eye-roll. She hung up and shuddered slightly at the thought of having to watch roughly two hours of people with out-dated haircuts running around in odd clothes.

But then she reminded herself that, after all, most Westerns/historical films consisted of roughly two hours of people with equally out-dated haircuts running around in equally odd clothes, and perhaps she should give Emi a chance. Thus resigned to her fate, she went downstairs to make herself some tea before going to bed.

"Mum, I'm going over to Emi's tomorrow."

Her mother gave her a sympathetic glance from the kitchen table where she sat, novel in hand, "More space films, I presume?"

Alice grinned, "That would be correct."

"What is it this time?"

"Star Wars."

"Ahh. The mother of all space epics."

"Yeah. My only consolation being that a young Harrison Ford has a starring role."

Her mother smiled, "I think you'll like them. They are actually quite good films – laughable special effects aside. It's really quite impressive what they managed to do considering-"

"Alright, mum," Alice said, rolling her eyes and crossing to her mother, cup of tea in hand, "calm yourself."

"Cheeky," her mum replied, "take your tea and get out of here."

"Going. Night."

"Goodnight."

But alas, in the end, she didn't end up going round to Emi's house. Because it seemed that instead of a quiet day watching films with her friend, Fate had something rather different in mind for Alice Miller.

She had just drifted to sleep, when all of a sudden, strolling innocently down a street in her dream, she tripped. Her heart practically went into meltdown, and her stomach lurched unpleasantly. A curse dying on her lips, Alice jolted awake, panting. At least, she thought she jolted awake. Looking around, she realised she must still be dreaming, because instead of comfortable darkness, light blazed annoyingly all around her, and she wasn't lying on a bed, she was on the ground.

"Weird," she said out loud, "I'm dreaming, but I know I'm dreaming?"

"Hello? Are you alright?"

Alice startled away from the voice – she hadn't realised there was someone else here. She looked up, and was momentarily blinded by the fierce light of the sun. It was blisteringly hot; she could practically feel all of her exposed skin burning.

When the flashing lights had faded from her vision, Alice blinked, and saw a young man with stupidly shaggy blonde hair leaning towards her, wearing an expression of innocent apprehension. He basically looked like he was waiting to see what she was going to do next. So Alice frowned, and made a sympathetic noise, "I'm sorry."

"Um…what for?"

"Multiple things. The heat. Your general appearance. My subconscious is really mean."

"Your…subconscious?"

"Well, yes," Alice said, rolling her eyes, "this is obviously a dream. I don't live anywhere near a desert."

"Uh…I don't want to upset you or anything, but…this isn't a dream."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it really isn't."

Alice, hot and tired, not to mention lying on some really sharp rocks, was starting to get a little annoyed, "Look, I'm trying really hard to take you seriously, but frankly your hair is ridiculous. And you are clearly crazy."

The poor guy looked even more confused as he said, "My…hair?" Alice glanced around, taking in the seemingly endless vista of sand and rocks. There was a car/spaceship type object floating over his shoulder. Alice blinked. Then she looked up. "Ah." She pointed at the sky, "Two suns. Do you see? This can't be real."

He hesitated, clearly not wanting to irritate her, but equally clearly disagreeing with her. She grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt, and he stared at her, alarmed, "Well, fine. If this is real, then where am I? And… what am I wearing?" She stared at herself, horrified. She was very sure she had not gone to bed wearing a full-body white jumpsuit with elbow-length sleeves and a scooped neck, complete with black boots, belt and fingerless gloves to match. She looked like the girls at those geeky conventions who dressed up like comic book characters only sluttier.

"You're on Tatooine, not far from Mos Eisley."

She stared at him, "Thank you, that clears it all up."

"Really?" He asked, brightening.

"No. That means nothing to me."

"Oh." He looked so crestfallen that Alice had to feel sorry for him and his funny hair. Maybe he just couldn't afford a proper haircut. He might well have been cutting it himself for the last ten dreamy years of his dreamy life. Who was she to judge a complete stranger in the desert?

Fixing a sympathetic smile on her face, she held out a hand towards him. She was going for a handshake, but instead, he grinned, and pulled her to her feet, which was nice, and brought an unexpected warm fuzzy feeling to Alice's heart. "Thanks," she said, smiling brightly at him, "I'm Alice Miller. You know. If you were interested in knowing the name of the strange girl you found sleeping in the middle of a desert…"

"Luke Skywalker. Nice to meet you." Alice felt her mouth drop open. Because even a history-obsessed avoider of sci-fi like her knew that name. "You're joking right? Luke Skywalker? As in: 'May the Force be with you'? That Luke Skywalker? Well, now I _know _I'm dreaming."

"I…I don't know what you're talking about…"

Alice paused, "Come on. Star Wars? That's it, I must be dreaming about Star Wars because Emi called me about watching those stupid films."

"I still don't..."

"Master Luke?"

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." An extremely shiny golden robot was sort of…waddling towards them, a smaller white and blue droid right behind it.

"Hey, Threepio, Artoo, this is Alice. These are some new droids of mine: C-3PO and R2-D2."

"You don't say."

The gold robot spoke to Alice in a voice that was as annoying as it was upper class, "Greetings Miss Alice. I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations." The smaller droid, R2-D2, didn't speak but instead whistled urgently. Alice glanced at Luke who glanced at Threepio who said angrily, "Master Luke is your rightful owner now. We'll have no more of this Obi-Wan Kenobi gibberish."

Alice put a hand to her forehead, supressing the urge to groan. She knew the name Obi-Wan Kenobi as well. This had to be a dream; something brought on by Emi's invitation to watch the Star Wars films and one too many cups of tea before bed. Closing her eyes, she pinched herself hard on the arm. She opened her eyes. Nope, still endless sandy dunes and blinding sun.

_Come on_… She pinched herself again, even harder this time, so hard she left nail marks in her own skin. Still no result.

"Um, Alice? Are you alright?"

"No!" She burst out, "Because I can't wake up and I should be waking up, because there is no way that this is real and no possible way that you are actually Luke Skywalker, and these are actual robots that actually work. Furthermore, I cannot be getting sunburned by a sun that doesn't actually exist! Now I'm going to have a stupidly red nose! Why?" She huffed.

Luke stared at her, shifting awkwardly where he stood, "I don't want to uh…rush you or anything, but we really better go." He glanced at the ground, "If you're coming…?"

Putting aside her momentary despair, Alice considered her options. Option One: refuse to accept this as real, refuse to go with Luke and co. and quite possibly die in the desert (if she was wrong, that is). Not good. Option Two: go with Luke but still refuse to accept this as real. Better, but if she kept insisting this was a dream, people would think she was crazy. Finally, Option Three: accept this to be real, go with Luke and just wait and see what happens. Definitely.

"Alice?"

She nodded so hard she felt her head might come off, "Alright. Fine then."

Artoo whistled impatiently, and stomped from side to side. Luke looked first at the little droid, then at Threepio, "What's wrong with him now?"

"There are several creatures approaching from the south-east," the butler droid said nervously.

"Creatures?" Alice said, her voice squeaking in fear. _Is it too late to review that 'accept this is reality' option?_

"Sand people," Luke said grimly, "or worse." He strode over to the hover-craft thing and grabbed a long metal stick that Alice immediately doubted the innocence of. "Come on, let's go have a look."

"Is that a good idea?" Alice asked, glancing twitchily over her shoulder.

Luke grinned, "Where's your sense of curiosity? Come on."

And then he held out his hand towards her, palm upwards, just like every hero to every heroine in every movie ever. "Oh, don't do that…" She stared at his hand reluctantly, then glanced up at his face, set in a lively and somewhat teasing grin, then back down to his hand. Well, going with him was better than waiting here to die alone, wasn't it? "Promise you won't let me get eaten?"

He laughed, "I'll do my best."

"That isn't reassuring," Alice said, as she grabbed his hand.

Immediately, he pulled her up a rocky ridge, the two of them climbing until they reached a sheltered outcropping where they could survey the gulley without being seen. While Alice caught her breath and Artoo and Threepio trundled up behind them, Luke lay down on the ground, propping himself up against a handy ledge and somehow summoning a large pair of scarily high-tec binoculars apparently from thin air. "Where did you pull those from?" Alice asked, wrinkling her nose slightly, "Actually…on second thoughts, don't tell me."

Ignoring her, Luke raised the binoculars and peering through them, remarked, "Well, there are two banthas down there, but I don't see any-" He paused, and fiddled with the buttons. Alice crept over to join him, peering apprehensively over the edge. "Wait a second…" Luke muttered, "They're sand people alright, I can see one of them now."

He started to hand the binoculars over to Alice when suddenly a robed figure wearing a freaky mask and waving a stick reared up in front of them. Alice shrieked in surprise, stumbled backwards, tripped over Artoo and fell hard on her bum. Luke reacted a little more heroically, lunging forward to grab his gun. He managed to block one of the creature's blows, but got sent flying backwards when it kicked him in the chest. _Well, this whole scenario has escalated awfully quickly._

Alice scrabbled away, her heart in her mouth as Luke rolled over the sand, dodging the staff as the creature tried to bludgeon him with it. But eventually, he miscalculated and the butt of the weapon made a dull thumping noise as it hit the side of Luke's head. He instantly went limp, and Alice let out a small yelp of shock.

The sandman or whatever it was roared out a guttural yell of triumph, shaking its stick over its head. Then it turned its attention to Alice. "Oh, no you don't," she said, working her way to her feet, and trying to edge away with her back pressed to the wall. She glanced around, but Artoo had disappeared, and Threepio was simply standing in a small alcove, wittering away about how he always knew this was a bad idea. _Yeah? Well I thought it was a bad idea too. No one listens to the woman or the android. Typical_.

Taking advantage of Alice's distraction, the sandman suddenly stepped forward and in one startlingly swift movement, grabbed Alice by the waist and slung her over its bony shoulder, winding her. Wheezing as she tried to get her breath back, she stared as a number of other creepy sand people appeared from over the rocks and began poking at Luke's body.

The sandman holding her grunted, and started to lead the way down the hill. The others whined/shrieked in reply, and taking Luke's hands, dragged him along the ground. Alice winced – this part of the canyon was more rocks than sand.

Then again, she wasn't particularly comfortable either, being carried as if she was a sack of potatoes. She could see why in movies, they always had the hero carry the heroine in front of him. _I feel your pain, my unconscious friend._ Alice felt her legs starting to go numb, and tried to shift her position so as to prevent pins and needles. The creature carrying her snarled, and jolted her roughly. "Hey!"

She tried to twist around to see her captor's face so she could rant at him properly, but couldn't reach, and eventually flopped down across his shoulders, tired out.

One of the men walking behind them looked up at her and made a growling choking sound that she thought might be laughter. Alice bared her teeth and hissed back. She couldn't really tell because of the thick metal mask it was wearing, but she liked to think it looked kinda surprised.

Their captors carried them back to Luke's ship, dropping them side by side before going off to ransack the hovercraft. At once, Alice's legs were gripped by savage pins and needles, and she lay on the floor trying not to move a muscle as feeling slowly returned to her lower body. She turned her head to glare at the still unconscious Luke, "Some hero you are." Careful not to move her legs, she lifted a hand and poked his shoulder, "Luke? Luke, wake up!"

No reply. He just lay there, lovely and limp and useless. With a huff, she stared up at the sky, arms folded. "Great. Of course you had to be knocked out, bloody typical…" She heard a faint whistling to her left, and glancing past Luke, saw Artoo hiding in the shadow of a rock, humming anxiously. "Artoo, help me!"

The droid whistled back, and suddenly, a sound vaguely reminiscent of her school fire alarm echoed around the canyon. Alice sat up quickly, her eyes narrowed, "What the-?"

The sand people spun around and gave shrieks of alarm; straining to see what they were looking at, Alice saw a hooded figure making its way slowly towards them across the sand. "Uhh…" She rolled over and started to shake Luke's shoulders frantically, "Wake up, you idiot, wake up!"

She glanced up again – the weirdo in the cloak had managed to frighten off the weirdoes in masks, but did that mean it was a good guy? Or an even worse guy? Faced with something possibly very bad indeed, Alice staggered to her feet, grabbed a loose rock and held it ready to throw.

The mystery person was still moving directly towards her, and thinking she'd better try and do _something_, Alice shouted, "Er…you better not come over here! I'm warning you!" Mystery Man ignored her completely, walked straight past her and bent down next to Luke. Feeling snubbed, Alice prodded him on the shoulder with her rock free hand, "Hey! I was threatening you."

Slowly, the person turned, the hood dropping back to reveal…an old man with a scrubby white beard, wearing an innocent smile.

"Oh. Hello."

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**Author's Note: **Just so you know, I have written all but the last two chapters of this fic, so hopefully, updates should be regular. If you did like this chapter, please take the time to review - especially now that the site designers have made it so much easier to do. :) Thanks!


	2. Backstory - Lots of Backstory

Hello again, people! So, I've decided that my updates will be weekly, on Saturdays/Sundays. Be excited!

**Shout-Outs: **Thanks to **my-beloved-monster **and **ArtistsChild93 **for reviewing! Reviewers get shout-outs. And cookies.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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As a brief reminder for those with short memories, short attention spans or vertical growth impairments, we last left our intrepid heroine wearing a promiscuous jumpsuit, slightly sunburned and facing an old man who looked distinctly less scary than she had originally thought him to be.

_Huh._

"Hello there," Beardy Guy said.

_Well that was anticlimactic,_ Alice thought. She heard a beeping noise beside her, and looking down, saw that Artoo had rolled out of his hiding place to join them. Beardy Guy looked at the droid too, and with a mildly manic smile, he beckoned to the droid, "Come over here, my little friend. Don't be afraid." Artoo whistled, and Beardy Guy looked down at Luke, "Oh, don't worry, he'll be alright."

Alice stared at him, "Hang on, sorry, are you holding a conversation with him? He's just making bird noises, how can you possibly- oh, never mind. Whatever. Just add it to the list of weirdness and I'll try and digest it later…"

Beardy Guy said nothing, just continued to smile at her. _Okay,_ Alice thought, feeling slightly unnerved, _note to self, stick with Luke, as although he has terrible hair, he is quite possibly the only sane person here_. Beardy's expression turned slightly knowing, as if he'd heard her thoughts and understood the vague insult to his mental health. Alice blushed, then shook herself. _Don't be stupid, of course he can't read your thoughts. That's pushing it, even for a dream as weird as this_.

At their feet, Luke was beginning to stir, shifting groggily from side to side. Alice dropped to her knees beside him, surprised by the wave of concern she felt as he blinked dazedly up at them. Beardy Guy stretched out a hand and started to help Luke up, saying, "Rest easy my son. You've had a busy day!" He glanced at Alice and smiled to himself, "You're fortunate to be all in one piece."

Luke rubbed his head, and said ruefully to her, "Sorry. I guess going to check out those sand people wasn't a great idea."

"Maybe not," Alice said, generously refraining from pointing out that that had been her opinion from the start.

He gave her a guilty little smile, and slowly turned his head to stare at Beardy Guy. After a moment, his eyes widened slightly: "Ben? Ben Kenobi? Boy, am I glad to see you!"

Alice sighed, "You are such a cliché, Luke. An all-American boy, through and through. Honestly, those screenwriters must have had such limited imaginations…"

He frowned, momentarily distracted from Beardy Guy, "A cliché?" He stumbled slightly over the unfamiliar word, "That doesn't sound like Basic, what language is that?"

"Er…French. Tell you what, don't worry about it."

"The Jungan wastes are not to be travelled lightly," Beardy Guy, or rather Ben, said, cutting short Alice's cultural seminar. He made to offer a hand to help Luke up, but Alice got there first, steadying the boy as he got to his feet.

Ben watched with approval, and said, "Why don't you sit down? Get your bearings." Alice guided Luke over to a small rock and sat next to him as the old man continued, "Tell me Luke, what brings you out this far? And who is your companion?" For a moment, Alice's gaze met Ben's, and she was suddenly pretty sure that the old man had been expecting to find Luke here. Her, however, he had not. She couldn't tell if this was a good thing or bad.

Then he turned to Luke as the boy answered, breaking the contact. "It's this little droid," Luke said, gesturing at Artoo, who bleeped. "I think he was searching for his former master. I've never seen such devotion in a droid before. We came out after him, and then I spotted a life-form on the scanner…" He glanced at Alice, "And that was you."

"Yup, that's me. Mysterious life-form extraordinaire. Alice Miller. Hello."

"So we stopped to pick her up."

"I see," said Ben, thoughtfully, "You say the droid was searching for his owner?"

"Yes. He claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours? Do you know who he's talking about?"

Ben frowned, and sat down slowly opposite Luke and Alice, "Obi-Wan Kenobi? Obi-Wan…now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. A long time."

Alice coughed, and resisted the urge to check an imaginary watch that she wasn't wearing – clearly whatever twist of fate had brought her here hadn't thought it a necessary part of her new ensemble. Apparently _all_ old people enjoyed reminiscing, regardless of which planet they were on. "So who is he?"

"I think my uncle knows him," Luke remarked randomly, "He said he was dead."

"Oh, he's not dead," Ben said, shaking his beardy head in a fond sort of way, "not yet."

"So you _do _know him?" Alice repeated, rolling her eyes, "Come on Ben, it's a simple question…"

Ben smiled serenely, "Well of course I know him! He's me!"

Alice blinked, "I should have seen that one coming." Artoo bleeped in what was probably agreement.

"I haven't gone by the name Obi-Wan since, oh, since before you two were born," Ben said in a rambly, nostalgic way Alice recognised from her own grandfather.

"Well then," Luke said, thankfully cutting Ben off before he could use the phrase, 'Why, in my day…', "the droid is yours."

Ben cocked his head on one side, and said musingly, "Don't seem to remember ever owning a droid. Very interesting…"

A long screeching cry echoed around faintly around the canyon, and Alice tensed up, "Please tell me that isn't some new monster that wants to eat us."

"We'd better get indoors," Ben said seriously, getting to his feet again, "the sand people are easily startled, but they'll be back, and in greater numbers."

Luke and Alice stood to follow him, but Luke paused at a particularly insistent warble from Artoo. He paused, listening, then smacked himself in the forehead. Alice very nearly snorted, but restrained herself at the last minute. "Ah, Threepio!"

Moving quickly, Luke led the way back to the spot where they'd been sitting before the sand people attacked them. They found the golden droid lying prone on the ground, one arm disconnected and his eyes dimmed.

Ben and Luke helped the droid sit up, while Alice picked up the detached arm. She gazed at it, shaking her head slightly. _That's it, I've gone crazy. I'm holding a robot arm and I'm totally crazy_.

"Oh, where am I? I must have taken a bad step." Alice tore her gaze away from the crackling wires and stared at Threepio. She waved his arm around, and said, "Ya think?"

"Well can you stand? We've got to get out of here before the sand people return."

"I don't think I can make it," Threepio said dismally, "you go on, Master Luke. There's no sense in you risking yourself on my account. I'm done for."

"Don't be silly," Alice said with forced brightness born of mild annoyance, "everything's going to be fine! Now, come on." She nodded imperiously at Luke and Ben, who obediently started to help the droid to his feet.

It would have been an awfully long and boring trek to reach Ben's isolated house at the other side of the desert by foot, especially with a whiny droid who kept shouting about how he was doomed. Luckily however, this is a science-fiction story, so Ben, Luke, Alice and the two droids simply hopped into Luke's speeder and flew there. So, in much less time than it would have taken to describe the journey, they arrived at a sandstone building built on a high, rocky hill.

Alice helped Luke manoeuvre Threepio out of the speeder, and paused, staring up at Ben's not so humble abode. She thought: _Someone didn't get the memo about how wise old mentors with beards don't live in palaces. Apart from Dumbledore._ And then: _Double standard_.

"Please young ones," Ben said, pleasantly, "follow me."

He disappeared through the (large) front door, but Alice stopped Luke as he moved to follow him, "Just to clarify…you do know this guy, don't you? I mean, you're not just trusting him because he's got a beard, are you?"

Once again, she was met with a bemused stare. "You're really unusual, Alice." And with that devastatingly enigmatic statement, Luke led Threepio away, leaving Alice alone with Artoo.

She glanced down at the blue and white droid, eyebrows furrowed, "That didn't answer my question at all. Hang on, should I be insulted?"

Artoo whistled, and Alice tsked at herself, "Oh yeah. For a minute there I forgot who I was talking to. Come on, you old rustbucket. Let's go before we lose them down the rabbit hole."

*BREAK*

"Seriously," Alice said, eyeing the high ceilings and endless space within Ben's 'house', "you could go on that MTV show where all the little rich American kids show off their custom-built recording studios and swimming pools and no one would even bat an eye." She started to stroke an imaginary beard and said, "Hmm, yes, my name is Ben Kenobi…and welcome to my alien crib."

"You say you found her asleep in the sun?" Ben said, turning to Luke where he sat, fixing Threepio's arm, eyebrows raised.

"Yes…"

"I daresay young Miss Alice has run quite mad," Threepio said matter-of-factly, "it is not an uncommon side effect of prolonged exposure to heat."

"Hey," Alice said, breaking off from her Obi-Wan impression and pointing at Threepio, "don't start with me, I've had a very odd day. And besides," she went on with her nose in the air, "I don't think one can make scandalous allegations about the state of another's mental health when one is missing one's arm."

"Well," Threepio said, sounding affronted, "how rude." Alice stuck out her tongue at him.

"I expect it is more than mere sunstroke," Ben said, back in musing mentor-mode, "Although her language is odd, she does appear to fully understand where she is and who we are." Alice made a small noise of disagreement under her breath. "Those suffering from dehydration and heatstroke tend to suffer from highly vivid hallucinations that would make it difficult for her to decipher the true course of events."

"Hello," Alice said, raising a hand, "still in the room."

Ben smiled vaguely, "Forgive me, Alice. I have come across many mysteries in my time, but you are one of the most unusual of all, and the most difficult puzzles to solve are among the most tempting. The Force tells me that you speak the truth and do not know where you are, and yet that reveals nothing of why you are here or how you arrived."

"Riiight," Alice said, trying to deduce if '_the Force tells me_' meant he really _was _telepathic. _If he is, I must make a mental note not to think mean and/or inappropriate thoughts around him. Damn, now all I can think about is how much I hate stuff…this 'trapped in a dream' thing is harder than I thought._

"Surely you must have some idea of how you came to be in the middle of the desert," Luke said in a reasonable tone.

"You would think, wouldn't you," Alice said thoughtfully, "but given that I went to sleep in a bed and woke up in a desert…no. Nothing springs to mind. Well…apart from alien abduction. Though for you that's probably just like…normal abduction, right? Huh."

"When I told you my name, you seemed surprised, like you knew me."

"Oh, that," Alice said with a nervous laugh, "right. Well, I know somebody else named Luke Skywalker. He's…he's a friend of mine. Back at home. He's a…writer!" She grinned at them, half wondering if they even had books anymore.

"How interesting," Ben said.

"Yes. Well." Alice coughed and glanced at Luke, "What _I _think is interesting…is that…er…I am _really _hungry."

Ben raised his eyebrows, and smiled, "There is a small food store down the hall to your left."

"I think I'll be the judge of how small it is, Beardy Guy," Alice said loftily as she got to her feet and left the room. She heard Luke and Ben start talking again as she reached the door of the 'food store'. It was made of smooth metal, with no visible handle, only a small set of buttons and a circular indent on the frame at around shin level. "Right," Alice muttered, staring at the door, "Um…open. Please."

Nothing happened. "Open sesame?" She said hopefully. The door remained resolutely shut. "Come on…" She tried poking one of the colourful buttons, then two of them, then all of them. _Why?_ Alice thought dismally. _Just…why? All I wanted was something to eat…oh god, I'm going to starve…_

Something beeped behind her, and Artoo rolled into view. "What do you want?" Alice asked, grumpily. The little droid whistled, and nudged her out of the way. She leant down, and saw the droid extend a probe from its frame, which fit neatly into the panel in the doorframe, like a key into a lock. Artoo beeped, and rotated the panel quickly, and with a quiet hiss, the door slid open.

"Oh!" Alice grinned, "Thanks, kid." She patted the droid on the head, and stepped inside to inspect Obi-Wan Kenobi's pantry. Looking at the shelves of brightly coloured, neatly packaged food, she realised she had absolutely no idea what any of it was. _I am taking my life in my hands here…_

Reaching out, she grabbed something that looked like a cereal bar, unwrapped it, inspected it and took a bite. It had a strong, slightly nutty flavour…but it wasn't bad. Feeling satisfied, she backed out of the room, saying to Artoo, "Go ahead and close it up." The droid bleeped and spun the door shut, then trundled along behind her as she went to re-join Luke and Ben.

Luke was speaking as she entered – Alice just caught the end of it, with the words: "You fought in the Clone Wars?"

"Hey guys," Alice said, sitting on top of a random chest that stood in the corner of the room and curling her legs beneath her. Now she thought about it, her white jumpsuit wasn't so bad after all. It was really flexible and quite comfortable. It was a bit like wearing a onesie, only without the animal theme and sock feet. "What did I miss?"

Luke gave her a small shrug, and Ben ignored her completely as he said, "Yes. I was once a Jedi Knight, the same as your father." Alice opened her mouth to remind Mr Beardy that she was back in the room, saw the intrigued look on Luke's face, and went back to her cereal bar, deciding she'd probably better just listen in silence. This was the kind of discussion that she would only blunder into and embarrass herself in, she could tell.

There was a slight pause, then Luke said, in a suitably poignant tone, "My father…I wish I'd known him."

"He was the best star pilot in the galaxy," Ben said, smiling, "and a cunning warrior. I understand you've become quite a good pilot yourself." Alice glanced at Luke, who smiled a sweet, abashed sort of smile, and turned back to fixing Threepio. "And he was a good friend. Which reminds me…" the old man got laboriously to his feet and crossed the room, saying, "I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough."

Luke looked up and met Alice's gaze, his head cocked questioningly to one side. She shrugged, and said, through a mouthful of cereal bar, "Don't look at me. If this were a Western he'd give you your dad's old pocket watch, or maybe his sheriff's star or his revolver or something. Somehow it's not quite the same; leaving your son your digital alarm clock."

"Your uncle wouldn't allow it," Ben said, cheerily ignoring Alice as he rummaged in a small chest for the mystery item, "he feared you'd follow old Obi-Wan on some damned idealistic crusade, like your father did."

"So, your dad _was _a Jedi," Alice asked, wishing she could have been transported here or whatever _after_ she'd watched the movies, so she might actually know a little more about the story, instead of having to ask ten thousand questions and look like an idiot.

"Yeah," Luke said, putting the finishing touches on Threepio's restored arm, "his name was Anakin Skywalker. I never knew him though, he died before I was born."

Alice ducked her head awkwardly. What were you supposed to say to something like that? The best she could come up with was: "Oh. I'm sorry." Which, when she thought about it, was really quite pathetic.

He met her gaze, and nodded once; an acknowledgement of a sentiment he'd probably heard hundreds of times before, "Thanks."

"Sir, if you'll not be needing me, I'll close down for a while," Threepio said. "Yeah sure, go ahead," Luke said, distractedly, watching as Ben returned, holding a slim silver tube in his hands.

"What is it?" Luke asked, getting to his feet. Alice, curious, hopped off the chest she was sitting on to peer at the object. It looked rather innocuous – just a metal cylinder with a few buttons on. Ben waited until they were gathered around before announcing, "It's your father's lightsaber; the weapon of a Jedi Knight." Alice's eyes widened and she backed away swiftly as Luke took it and raised it in the air, "Careful with that thing."

Ben raised his eyebrows at her, "You know of this weapon? For many of the galaxy they are now simply parts of the fairytale the Jedi Order has become. It is good to see that not all have forgotten. Yes. It is not as clumsy or random as a blaster-"

Alice lost track of Ben's words as Luke pressed a button, and suddenly, a bright shaft of blue light, about a yard long, snapped into view above the hilt. She eyed it with a mixture of alarm and awe. Obviously, she'd heard of lightsabers and seen pictures of them on the internet or television - they were just one of those things that had seeped into society. You couldn't get away from it. But none of the images she'd seen could compare to this. It was beautiful. The long cylinder of light appeared blue, but at its core, it was a clear, blinding white, and it hummed with energy.

Luke's face reflected Alice's wonder, and he swiped the blade through the air, as if testing its weight. As it moved, the humming noise it made deepened, so that Alice could feel it in her chest.

She had to blink as Luke released the button and the light disappeared, leaving phantom after-images on her eyes. The boy turned to Ben, who had been talking this entire time, though Alice hadn't been listening. Luke apparently had, because he sat down next to Ben, and said, "How did my father die?"

"Woah," Alice said, a little awkwardly whilst blinking furiously to clear her vision, "that was quite a skip in the conversation…"

Ben gave her a look that, while not angry clearly meant, 'Be quiet now.' Alice pressed her lips together, stifling her resentment and silently retook her seat, watching the two of them closely. The old man turned back to Luke, and said grimly, "A young Jedi named Darth Vader who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father."

_Hang on!_ Alice thought, abruptly, _Even I know that Darth Vader is Luke's father. Isn't Ben going to tell him that? Well, great! If he's not going to tell him, then I have to, don't I? Do I? It's really jerky not to tell him that his father's the scourge of the galaxy…but I suppose…well, Ben must have a reason._ She looked at Luke, who appeared crushed. _I just hope it's a good one…_

"Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force."

"The Force?" Luke and Alice asked simultaneously. Ben smiled at the two of them, "Such eager pupils. It reminds me of old times. The Force is what gives a Jedi his power."

"But what actually is it?" Alice said insistently – because if she boiled down all the things she didn't understand about Star Wars, at the bottom of it was the question of why the Jedi had telekinetic powers if no one else did. Ben raised a hand to quiet her, and she sat back, temporarily stymied, "Patience, child."

"Child? Ha!"

Ben raised his eyebrows, reminding her of every teacher she'd ever had, and waited. "Sorry," she muttered.

He smiled, and went on, "It is an energy field created by all living things; it surrounds us and penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together."

Alice snorted, "A constant, all-powerful force that maintains the universe. Now, that sounds familiar."

"Indeed?"

"Yup. No one ever had any proof back home either."

"Is proof so important to you?" Ben asked, amused.

"I'm a historian," Alice explained, "or…a historian in training, anyway. I like proof and evidence and facts. It's not that I don't want to believe in your…force field. I just find it hard, that's all."

Luke and Ben were staring at her, not in a 'good lord, what is she doing now' way, but in a 'hmm…what an intriguing person' way. It felt quite nice, to be honest. She was quite ordinary, quite fade into the background at home – it was nice to be someone who stood out for once.

The lull was broken by an energetic whistle from Artoo, who all this time had been sitting patiently at Alice's feet. Now he was apparently trying to regain their attention. "What's up, Henry the Hoover?" Alice asked, rapping the droid's dome lightly with her knuckles and missing the puzzled glance between the two people in the room who didn't get the reference. He beeped eagerly, and rolled forwards slightly, towards Ben, then backwards, as if trying to indicate the old man.

Ben got up, "That's quite a determined little droid you've got there," he said, to no one in particular, "and he seems quite taken with you, young Alice. Let's see if we can't figure out who he is and where he comes from."

He patted the droid, who shuffled on the spot, and suddenly shone a blue light from the top of his dome on to the table.

"What's he doing?" Alice asked curiously. The blue cone of light stuttered and shimmered, like the picture did on old TVs when there was static. Faintly, through the fuzziness, Alice could make out a figure. "Is it a recording, then? Intergalactic Facebook perhaps?" The little image of the person showed them standing upright, then bending over, then standing upright, then bending over, as if caught in a loop.

"Yeah, it's a message from someone. I saw part of it earlier-"

"I seem to have found it," Ben said serenely. Alice watched interestedly as the static faded and the figure solidified. She dropped to her knees and shuffled closer, and saw that it was a young woman, apparently dressed up as the female approximation of Gandalf. "Well," Alice said, raising an eyebrow, "She's certainly dressed for a night out."

She glanced up to find the other two already looking at her. "Oh great," she muttered, "The 'good lord, what has she done now' looks are back."

"Hush." On the table, the woman had begun to talk, her voice disproportionately loud and, for an American accent, exceedingly upper class. "General Kenobi, years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire." Alice spared Ben a quick look – the old man's face was shadowed, and she felt a pang of sympathy. Wars were traumatic wherever you happened to be, and it must hurt to have those old memories brought back here and now.

The message continued, "I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I've placed information vital to the survival of the rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." Suddenly, the woman's image glanced over her shoulder, hearing something the three of them couldn't. Then, as before, she leaned down, her arm stretched out as if to touch something, before the image cut out completely.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	3. CSI:Tatooine

It's me again, back with another chapter for all you lovely people! Thanks to everyone who followed, favourited or just read the story in the last week - means a lot.

**Shout-outs: **Thank you to **SerenityMoonPrincess **for reviewing, and a cookie for being the only one this week!

******Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

* * *

Silence fell as the recording ended and the mysterious woman disappeared. Luke seemed slightly stunned. Ben was thoughtful, gazing into the middle distance, his eyes clouded. Alice leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "If this is a dream," she murmured, more to herself than the other two, "it's a really bloody long one." The sound of her voice, faint though it was, seemed to rouse Ben. He turned to Luke, smiling, "You must learn the ways of the Force, if you're to come with me to Alderaan."

"Don't go without me," Alice blurted out, sitting up straight very suddenly.

"Alderaan?" Luke said, sounding as though he was tearing himself out of a dream, "I'm not going to Alderaan, I've got to get home, it's late and I'm in for it as it is, bringing a strange girl back home."

"What's the matter, Luke," Alice asked, in a feigned sultry voice that made her sound like she was suffering from a severe head cold, "never brought a strange girl home before?"

"I need your help, Luke," Ben said firmly. "She needs your help," he tipped his head in Artoo's direction, referencing the woman from the recording, "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing."

Alice could see Luke was tempted; by all of it. It was obvious he wanted to take the lightsaber and leave this planet and meet the mysterious woman who was calling for help. But still he resisted. _Come on Luke! Be spontaneous!_

"I can't get involved! I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire, I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it right now! It's all such a long way from here. Alice, you understand right?" And he turned his pleading eyes towards her.

"Uhh…" _No?_

"That's your uncle talking," Ben said. Luke huffed, and pushed away from the wall, turning away from them, "Well, my uncle's right." Alice glanced at Ben. He looked worried.

Alice waved a hand at him, unconcerned, "Chill, Ben. There are another two movies after this one. Obviously he comes with you to Alderaan."

"I beg your pardon?" Ben said, raising his eyebrows in a very stern sort of way that made Alice feel instantly guilty. _What I say?_

Luke didn't seem to care that Alice was possibly in trouble with Ben, and rounded on her, looking upset, "Not you as well."

Alice raised her hands defensively, "Listen, Luke. I know that we've only just met and you have no idea who I am, and _I _have no idea _where_ I am or how I got here, and I honestly still have absolutely no clue who that guy is," she pointed at Ben, "but…well, I think he's right. I mean, you do want to get off this planet, don't you?"

"Yes…"

"Well, here's your chance! I mean, this is it – the beginning of your epically heroic journey; you'll be making a stand against evil, changing your destiny, and who knows, you might even end up saving the whole galaxy! How often is a chance to do all that gonna come along? Let me tell you from my vast experience," she poked him in the chest, "it's not often. This is definitely one of those 'grab it while you can' scenarios. Not to mention I'm not going anywhere without you and this definitely sounds more interesting than whatever it is that you normally do all day."

"But…what about my uncle? How am I ever going to explain this?"

"Learn about the Force, Luke," Ben said simply.

"Listen to the man," Alice agreed, nodding sagely.

He stared at both of them, and for a second Alice thought that they might have convinced him. But then Luke shook his head and moved to the door. Alice sighed, but got up to follow him when he paused and turned to look at Ben, "Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you're going."

Ben looked disappointed, "You must do whatever you feel is right, of course."

Luke nodded once, and left the room to get the speeder ready, leaving Alice and Ben alone. Which was instantly awkward and uncomfortable, and inspired in Alice the instant desire to put herself somewhere else, "So…"

"Not so fast," Ben said. Feeling as if she'd done something naughty and was about to be told off by a strict teacher, Alice turned to face him.

The old man was staring at her shrewdly, his eyes narrowed. "You are quite the mystery, Alice Miller. From what I can tell, you have no notable power with the Force, and yet just now you seemed to be predicting the future. I think it's time I had a full explanation of who exactly you are, and where you came from."

Alice shuffled uncomfortably on the spot, "Well, you see, that's…it's a little difficult to explain."

He raised his eyebrows, "I believe I can handle it."

She laughed in surprise, covering the noise behind a slight cough when his eyebrows raised even further. "Right. Well. Yes. I'm Alice Miller. Hi. Hello. I'm from Surrey, England. Europe. Earth. The Solar System. The Milky Way. I'm nineteen and I've got two sisters and a pet cat and I've quite possibly gone crazy, because, and I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but you're not real."

Ben blinked, then said, sounding just as calm as ever, "What do you mean by saying that I am not real?"

"It's not just you," Alice said, feeling rather upset all of a sudden, "it's Luke and Artoo and Threepio and that lightsaber thing and all of it. I don't know how to say this…but you guys are characters. In a story. A story that has somehow magically come to life, and I, for god knows what reason, have been dropped in the middle of it!"

"Do you know our story well?"

"Well…no, not really, no…I mean, I never actually, you know, watched the movies or anything…"

"Do you know how it ends?"

"Er…well, I could probably guess…"

"Do not," he said, suddenly stern.

"Alright!" Alice said, pouting a little.

"You must understand," he went on, somewhat more gently, "I speak as one who knows the danger of trying to interfere with the future. You cannot possibly know the effect your actions will have, to such an extent that, in trying to bring about a certain ending, an event opposite to what you intended may take place."

"You mean, like a self-fulfilling prophecy?" _Please say he's never done an Oedipus._

"Exactly," Ben said, that odd shadow of old grief passing over his face again, "that is the first thing I must warn you about. The second is this. While these events may once have been a story to you, they are now real. You can be hurt. You can die. And what you do may alter the outcome of this tale."

"So why am I here then?" Alice demanded, "If so much is at stake, why did Fate or whatever choose to dump someone as useless as me into this stupid story?"

Ben shook his head slowly, and when he spoke, his voice was solemn, "That I cannot say. But I agree with you in that there must _be _some reason. Perhaps you were sent here to learn something that you could not in your own world."

"So…" Alice said slowly, "all of a sudden, plucking a girl out of her own reality and chucking her down somewhere else is the universe's idea of a learning experience?"

He smiled briefly, "It could be. But now you must promise me that you will not tell Luke any of this. Knowing how the story should end will put pressure on you to make it happen; that responsibility will weigh doubly on Luke."

Alice nodded, "Alright. I promise. If you promise that you won't leave me behind anywhere on my own. I wouldn't last a day. Like seriously. I couldn't even open the door to your food store."

"Very well," Ben said, "I will do my best to keep you with us. But," a little twinkle of amusement came into his eyes, "I think you will find that young Luke will be unwilling to abandon you anyway. He holds all his friends very dear, I believe."

"Yeah, well," Alice said, a tad nervously, "I'm not his friend yet. I'm just a mad stranger he happened across by chance. Why would he want to keep me around?"

Ben didn't reply. He just smiled at her.

"Ben, Alice? The speeder's ready." Luke leaned in through the doorway. Alice saw that he had clipped his father's lightsaber to his belt, and felt an odd mixture of guilt and excitement flash through her. Pushing it away, she said, "Can someone just remind me again what we're doing?"

"We're going to drop Ben in Anchorhead, then I guess I'll take you home."

_And then I'll stay there until…what? Until I die? Okay, it's decided, I am not going to let him just keep me here for the rest of my life. We're going with Ben._

"Okay," she said, peaceably, "hey, Artoo, race you to the ship." The droid shrieked and trundled after her as she sprinted out of the door.

Somehow, Alice managed not to get lost as she dashed madly through Ben's house. She did, however, lose Artoo, and found him waiting for her by Luke's speeder, radiating smugness. "How did you do that?" Alice asked, panting, "There were stairs! How did you get up the stairs?"

Artoo whistled, and Alice waved a hand at him, "Fine. You win this round, you glorified Dyson."

Luke and Ben followed them at a more sedate pace, Threepio trotting along behind them, and Alice, though she had _technically_ lost the race, couldn't resist the urge to gloat. "Come on slowpokes," she said, rolling her eyes as they came into view, "while we're young."

Luke laughed, and patted Artoo on the dome as he vaulted neatly into the speeder. Alice clambered in behind him, saying, "So, where are we going again?"

"I'm going to take Ben to Anchorhead, and then…I guess you're gonna meet my aunt and uncle." Alice grimaced slightly – time to try and do some more persuading: "Well, that sounds…great, I suppose…" She glanced at Ben who was climbing stiffly up the speeder's wing, "It kinda sucks that we won't see Ben again. I was even getting used to the beard." She glanced at Luke out of the corner of her eye; he was gazing at Ben, and an indecisive expression came over his face.

"What was that, young Alice?"

"Nothing, old man," she said, giving him a hand into the cockpit, "just discussing the plan of action. Right, Luke?"

The farm boy started slightly, and shook his head as though dragging himself back to the present, "Yeah. Sure. Well, if everyone's on board…Artoo? Threepio?" There was a bleep and a slight groan in response. "Then I guess we should go." He leaned forward and flicked several switches on the speeder's control panel. The engines revved, and they rocketed forward, the wind of their speed whipping back Alice and Luke's hair, which prompted a burst of giggles from Alice and resulted in Luke asking for the rest of the journey what was so funny.

BREAK

"Seriously though," Alice said, practically choking with laughter, "you look like a L'oreal model."

"A what? Alice, I don't get it-"

"Wait, Luke, I just thought of something-" her words were cut off for a moment by an unsuppressed stream of giggles before she managed to continue, "could you say: 'Because I'm worth it'. Please. Just say it. Just once. For me. Pleeeease..."

"Because I'm worth it," Luke repeated, blinking in utter confusion as Alice exploded into gales of laughter at his words. "Oh," she gasped, "oh, oh, stitch. Oh it hurts. Ouch…"

"Luke." Ben's voice, sharp and grim cut through Alice's laughter. "What?" She asked, puzzled by the sudden silence from her two companions, "What's- oh, god." There was smoke ahead of them, rising from the hulking wreck of what was presumably some kind of spaceship. As Luke cut the engine immediately, Alice fumbled her safety belt open and leaped out of the speeder, landing surprisingly gracefully, her feet throwing up little puffs of sand.

All around her, large chunks of metal shimmered prettily in the bright sunlight. Slightly dazed by the general heat or the day, Alice stretched out a hand and touched one of them, in what was perhaps one of the stupidest moments of her life.

The pain was instantaneous, and Alice jerked backwards reflexively, hissing. "Alice?" She turned away from Luke, cradling her burnt hand in front of her. _Well, that was idiotic. Mental note. In future, do not touch hot metal space rocks._

"What happened?" He said, awkwardly touching her on the shoulder.

"Burned myself," Alice said sheepishly, "it's fine." She stepped warily around another hunk of debris and said, "So what is this then; spaceship crash?" She looked around for a sign of another ship, "Hit and run, maybe?" She lifted her foot to take a step forward, then stopped, her eyes stretching wide in horror, "Oh my god…Luke…is that…?"

Luke's face twisted as he gazed at the small body lying on the ground.

Alice swallowed thickly, suddenly all too aware of the sickly sweet smell of burnt flesh in the air, which up till now had been masked by the smoke. "Okay," Alice said, her voice wobbling slightly, "that's...phew. I do not feel well." Luke took her by the arm, hurriedly turned her away from the body and guided her back towards the speeder, "Just…stand over there. Don't look, okay?"

"Okay," she said, looking fixedly at the horizon and trying not to breathe through her nose. Luke patted her clumsily on the back, then picked his way through the smoking minefield to join Ben. She heard a mournful warble beside her, and felt Artoo nudge against her leg gently as if in comfort. Without looking down (just in case), she put her uninjured hand on the top of the droid's frame, steadying herself against the cool metal.

"Well, this is unpleasant," she muttered under her breath. _Perhaps staying with Luke's aunt and uncle wouldn't be so bad after all. I could learn how to…knit._

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Luke and Ben moving around and heard Luke say, "It looks like the sand people did this. Look, there's gaffi sticks and bantha tracks everywhere." She saw him pick up a stick, like the ones the sand people they'd encountered earlier had been carrying, and thrust it into the sand, "I've never heard of them hitting anything this big before."

"They didn't," Ben said calmly, as if he was the head of Alien CSI, "but we are meant to think they did. These tracks are side by side, sand people always ride single file, to hide their numbers."

"Hang on…these are the same Jawas that sold us Artoo and Threepio."

"What are Jawas?" Alice called, not trusting herself to look at them.

"They're…" Luke hesitated before saying, "they're the bodies."

"Oh," she groaned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, "right."

Ben pointed at something else, saying, "And these blast points. Too accurate for sand people. Only Imperial storm troopers are so precise."

"But…why would Imperial troops want to slaughter Jawas?"

"That's bad, right?" Alice said to Artoo, "Imperial troops are bad."

"Indeed," Threepio said severely, "a group of mindless killers."

"Yeah, thanks Goldilocks, I wasn't asking you," she said, archly. Artoo looked between the two of them, and whistled anxiously. Threepio sniffed, and looked away, "I was merely confirming your statement."

"Well," Alice said, forgetting her queasiness in her irritation with the droid, "I think- Luke? What's wrong?" Running at full pelt, he skidded past her and jumped into the speeder, his hands going straight to the controls. "Luke? What is it?"

Ben was shouting too, "Wait, Luke! It's too dangerous!"

Without a word to either of them, Luke slammed the craft forward and accelerated away, skimming low over the sand dunes.

Alice spun to find Ben walking slowly and sadly towards her, "What did I miss? Ben? Where's he going?"

"He suspects that the Imperial troops will have found out from the Jawas who they sold these two droids to – and gone to look for them there. In this case, the buyers were Luke's aunt and uncle."

"So?"

He gave her a very serious look, "You should know that Imperial troops are bred to be perfect soldiers. They have been genetically designed not to question authority or to defy it. Their orders were to find these droids, and if they do not find them at Luke's home, they will have no qualms about torturing or killing whoever is there at the time."

Alice blanched, "So Luke's aunt and uncle…they're…?" Ben nodded slowly, and she felt sorrow grip her heart, "But…but he's already lost his parents! That isn't fair!"

"No," the old man agreed grimly, "no, it is not." He sighed, "Come. We should give the last rites to these Jawas."

"What does that mean exactly?" Alice asked, uneasily.

"We will burn their bodies, so that they may become one with the Force."

"Right," she said, feeling a little faint, "okay. I'll be with you in just a second." Ben patted her a little condescendingly on the shoulder, then headed back to where the little bodies of the Jawas were all scattered around. _Come on Alice, _she thought, _you're not going to get very far in a film entitled '_Star Wars_'_ _if you can't handle a few bodies. So just man up and help him._ Steeling herself, she took a couple of deep breaths (still through the mouth) and joined him.

Together, they created a small pile of bodies, which Ben then lit by using some kind of gadget to concentrate a beam of light on the topmost Jawa's robes; much like small children on Earth used magnifying glasses to scorch the ground. The fabric smoked then suddenly burst into flame. Staring at the slowly kindling fire, Alice didn't feel revulsion, she felt sadness. The Jawas were so little, like children. It was unfair that they had died just because they'd come into contact with Artoo and Threepio.

"So, I guess that they want Artoo because of that information the rebels put in his hard drive, or whatever," Alice said, her voice sounding uncharacteristically bleak in her own ears.

"Good," Ben said, approvingly, "you're keeping up."

"Yeah," she said, "surprisingly enough. And now what, we just wait for Luke to come back?"

"We hope that he comes back," Ben said.

"Oh, well, don't be too optimistic," Alice said reprovingly, her eyebrows shooting upwards. "Gosh, what is it with old people and a constant sense of morbid-ness? Honestly, Ben, you're just going to depress me if you keep on saying things like that."

He smiled slightly, "I apologise young one. I suppose the world you come from is a peaceful one, far removed from war. I'm afraid I've lost too many companions over the years to be able to see things the way you do anymore."

"Oh…" _Well that didn't make me feel guilty at all. _"I see. Ben?"

"Yes, my girl?"

"Do you think I'll ever be able to go home?"

He sighed, "I cannot say. And even if I thought it was possible, I do not know how it could be done."

"But…so what happens if we go with you to Alderaan? What happens if we live the story exactly and we get to the end and then…then I just stay here?"

There was a brief pause. "I'm sorry, Alice, but I cannot answer your questions. All I can tell you is that the Force converges around you – and so I do not think that what has happened was by accident."

"It does?" She blinked, startled, "Is that a good thing?"

Ben laughed slightly, "Who knows? It may prove to be."

"Well…yay for that, I guess." She turned to look at him, "Can I say something? About Luke's dad?" He gazed at her cautiously, "I suppose."

"…I know that Darth Vader is his father."

He jerked away from her, his eyes narrowing. "Then you really do speak the truth. You know our tale."

"Yeah…why didn't you tell him?"

Ben shook his head, "The time is not yet right for him to know."

Alice gazed at him, then said quietly, "You mean if you tell him now he won't come with you."

The old man met her eyes, and nodded, "Exactly."

"Then I won't tell him," she said, hating herself a little for saying it, "but if he finds out…"

"Thank you."

"I'm probably going to regret that, aren't I…?"

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	4. Drinks All Round

Hello, dear readers! Thank you for...continuing to read. :) I'm glad you enjoy the stuff what comes out of my brain.

I gots some **shout-outs: **To **SerenityMoonPrincess**, **Th****ePhantomismyLove**, **iloveashandquin **and **Sev **thank you so, so much for reviewing - cookies for the lot of you!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

* * *

In the middle of the desert, a young woman and an elderly man stood side by side. Alice kept glancing reflexively at her wrist, and growled in frustration each time at her lack of watch. "How long has it been now?" She asked, anxiously, scanning the horizon.

Ben, who had been thoughtfully stroking his beard in typical mysterious fashion said, "I'm not sure. An hour or so at least."

"Oh man." Alice jumped up and down once or twice, curling her lip in discomfort.

"What is it?"

"I really need to pee."

Ben stared at her.

"What? Don't give me those judging eyes, Ben."

Luckily at that moment, they heard the whine of engines and saw the shimmer of heat in the distance that signalled the speeder's arrival. Alice strode forward, biting her lip as she watched Luke stop the speeder and climb slowly out of it. He paused, dragging his hand across his eyes before walking over to join them.

_Oh no._

"Luke," she said, quietly. He looked up slowly, his eyes red. _What do I _do_?_ "I'm…I'm really sorry." Tentatively, she put her arms around him, and when he didn't resist, pulled him into a loose embrace. After a moment, he hugged her back, his hands balling into fists in the small of her back. Then he stepped away, and Alice let him go, her arms falling limply to her sides. The hand she'd burned throbbed dully, and when she looked at it, saw that it had swelled slightly. She winced, and looked away.

Ben put a hand on Luke's shoulder, "There was nothing you could have done, Luke," he said gently. "You would have been killed too, and the droids would now be in the hands of the Empire."

"I want to come with you to Alderaan," Luke said quietly, "there's nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father. Alice." She glanced up to find that Luke was gazing at her, his voice slightly strained, "If you don't want to come, I have friends you could-"

"No, I'll come," she said, quickly cutting him off, "can't let the two of you go off and have adventures without me." _Not to mention I can't stay here. Not on my own._

"So what's next?" Luke asked.

"We'll take the speeder to Mos Eisley," Ben said, leading them back over to the flying machine in question, "to barter a passage off this planet to Alderaan."

"Barter?" Alice repeated as she and Luke followed him, her eyebrows raised, "With what? What do we have of value, besides Artoo and Threepio, who I'm assuming we need to keep?"

"Don't worry," Luke said grimly, starting up the engines, "I'm sure we'll find someone desperate enough in Mos Eisley to agree to be paid once we get to Alderaan."

"Oh," Alice said, turning her head to watch the desert fly by, "I see. And Mos Eisley is…what exactly?"

"A space port. Basically, it's a collection of taverns and shops run by shady dealers. The deep space pilots go there to rest and refuel, get a break from flying."

"Ah. So like the seaports back home then. Or service stations."

"And you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious," Ben said in a 'now listen up, young'uns' kind of voice.

Luke glanced at Alice briefly, "You never said. Where is home?"

"I'm…" Alice could feel Ben's gaze on her. _Pressure!_ She scrambled desperately for something, anything in the back of her brain that might be of use… "Gallifrey," she said confidently.

"Gallifrey," Luke repeated slowly, as if tasting the word, "I've never heard of it. Is it in the Outer Rim?"

"Oh yeah," she said, trying to sound casual, "it's…way, way out there…in the…you know…far away. It's quite remote. We don't get many visitors."

Either Luke was better at hiding his disbelief than Ben, or he was simply a little dimmer than Alice had thought, because he didn't question her, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Not long after that, they spotted Mos Eisley on the horizon. It was larger than Alice had expected: a sprawling expanse of cramped sandstone buildings and narrow streets, dotted with the occasional gleam of sun on metal. As they got nearer, they started to pass by other speeders or slower vehicles, but it gave Alice no hint of the rush of activity within the main gates of the town.

Droids, humans and aliens bustled back and forth like bees in a hive, and it was all Alice could do to not to gape, open-mouthed at the massive array of odd-looking life forms. She saw something that had a face a bit like a cow, walking on two legs, with three eyes. There were little blue people fluttering around on insect-like wings, and they even passed a couple of creatures who looked as if they were shaggy throw-rugs brought to life.

Luke and Ben of course took it all in their stride, but Alice had to bottle in a constant stream of exclamations at each new alien. _Come on, Alice, play it cool._

They were speeding along down a wide street, when suddenly, Luke started to slow down. "Are we stopping?" Alice asked brightly. "Because I still really need to-"

"Hush," Ben said, sharply, "Imperial troops."

Alice shut up immediately as several white-suited figures carrying large, scary-looking guns came sauntering over to them. Very quickly, they surrounded the speeder, making it impossible for them to leave without knocking a few of them over. Alice held her breath as one of the soldiers spoke to Luke, his voice slightly tinny, as if he was speaking over a PA system, _"How long have you had these droids?"_

"About three or four seasons," Luke lied smoothly.

"They're up for sale if you want them," Ben put in.

The soldier looked unconvinced. Well, as unconvinced as it was possible to look when wearing a mask that obscured his face completely. _"Let me see your identification."_ This was a cue for Alice to start freaking out. _Oh god, we're going to die…_

Then Ben said, quite calmly, "You don't need to see his identification."

_"We don't need to see his identification,"_ the soldier repeated.

"These aren't the droids you're looking for."

_"These aren't the droids we're looking for."_ Alice's eyes widened – it was like watching Derren Brown, only wearing a cloak and in a desert. _What is this witchcraft?!_

"He can go about his business."

_"You can go about your business." _

"Move along," Ben said, with an air of satisfaction.

_"Move along."_ And with that, the troops moved off, allowing them to fly away. Alice and Luke stared at Ben, awestruck. "Ben," Alice whispered, gleefully, "you are a ninja. That was awesome! How did you do that?!"

"I thought we were dead!" Luke agreed, guiding them past a couple of stumbling Jawas.

"The Force can have a strong influence on the weak minded," Ben said, pointing casually to a spot for Luke to stop the speeder: "Over here."

"That was honestly the most badass thing I have ever seen," Alice said, hopping out of the speeder, "I wish I could do that."

Ben smiled at her, but Luke was surveying the building they had parked by, a doubtful expression on his face, "Do you really think that we'll find a pilot here that can take us to Alderaan?"

"Most of the best freighter pilots are to be found here," Ben assured him. "Only watch your step. This place could be a little rough."

"Rough?" Alice repeated, nervously, "You guys do realise I'm from Surrey, right?"

Inside it was dark, smelly, and stuffy. There was a band of aliens wearing…well, more or less, tuxedoes in one corner, playing long, dark instruments that sounded a bit like oboes or clarinets. There were small groups of unfriendly looking aliens clustered around most of the tables and at the bar, drinking, smoking and playing dice or cards or whatever aliens did for fun. In short, it was exactly what Alice would have expected a seedy alien bar to look like.

Keeping close behind Luke, she simultaneously tried to avoid meeting anyone's eyes (or eye, singular) and watched the floor to make sure she didn't stand in anything disgusting. But after about two minutes, trying to look at two different things at once gave her a headache, and she had to stop.

Ben was already at the bar, talking with a huge fluffy thing that could probably knock the old man's head clean off with one blow of its paws. Alice swallowed, and made the mistake of taking her eyes off the back of Luke's head for more than one second. Immediately, she bumped into someone, lost Luke in the crowd and heard a deep male voice say, "Hey, watch where you're going!" Quaking with fear, she turned to face what was probably going to be her doom.

The speaker, presumably the guy she'd bumped into, was a tall man with a mop of brown hair, wearing a loose waistcoat, boots and some ridiculously tight trousers. _Fashion sense aside, at least he's human,_ Alice thought.

"I- I'm sorry," she stuttered, "I'll, ah, I'll be more careful next time. My, those trousers are tight…woah, woah, woah. What are you doing?" As she spoke, the man had reached out to brush at her hair. She slapped his hand away, and stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Relax," he said, holding up his hands, "I'm not gonna hurt you. You have a beetle in your hair, that's all-"

Alice shrieked. "A bug? Oh, yuck, get it out, get it out!"

"Would you keep your voice down?" He hissed, clapping a hand over her mouth, "it's gone. I got it already. Okay?" Alice glared at him mutinously from behind his hand, "Now if I take my hand away will you promise not to scream? I don't know if you've noticed, but this isn't the kinda place where you want to draw attention to yourself."

At which point, Luke, standing at the bar, was suddenly thrown across the room by the Elephant Man and crashed into a table. Alice jumped, and grabbed hold of the sleeve of Mr Grumpy's shirt. She watched, her heart in her mouth as Ben, moving quicker than she would have thought possible, pulled a lightsaber from his belt. The blade, blue like Luke's, hummed and whirred, and within seconds, Luke's attackers were lying on the floor, one with a smoking gash across his chest, the other missing an arm.

Alice's hand flew to her mouth. Silence fell around the bar, apart from the groans of the two downed men. Everyone was watching the lightsaber. Then Ben, smiling grimly, simply put the weapon away, and slowly, talk resumed. Aliens turned back to their drinks, and Alice let out a long breath of relief. It was only then that she realised that she was pressed against Leather Guy's chest and gripping his arm as if her life depended on it. Altogether, it wasn't the best way to introduce herself to a stranger.

She coughed, and elbowed him away. Her hand was hurting again, and studying it, she saw the skin had turned an ugly dull red. _Well, that's delightful. _

"Looks like a bad burn you've got there," her new acquaintance announced, taking another swig of his drink.

"Yes, well," Alice said, raising her head and trying to appear as if she knew what she was doing, "I expect it'll be fine. Eventually."

"You sure about that, darling?" He said, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Darling?" She repeated incredulously. To his evident surprise, she poked him in the chest, "You, sir, are a very brazen gentleman." She wasn't quite sure why she had reverted to Edwardian speech patterns, especially since it just seemed to amuse him.

"You're absolutely wrong, sweetheart," he said, grinning roguishly, "I'm not a gentleman at all. In fact, gentlemen are pretty scarce in these parts. Which begs the question: what's a pretty thing like you doing here all alone?" Alice felt panic seize her. _Oh crap, is he flirting with me? That's definitely flirting. Oh god, why?_

"Alice?"

"Luke," she said, relieved, "thank god." Concern for him over-ruled embarrassment and she placed one hand on his shoulder, checking him over for damage, "Are you alright?"

"Sure, fine," he said, glancing over her shoulder at Leather Guy, who had picked up his drink and was eyeing the two of them with deliberate indifference.

"So I guess you're not alone after all, huh," he said, looking Luke over from head to toe, "well, I should've known you'd be the type to go for the innocent ones."

Alice stared at him, incredulous. "How dare you, you…you-"

"Han Solo?" Ben's voice came from behind them, cutting Alice off before she could find a suitable swear word to describe Leather Guy. The old man was accompanied with the massively tall furry thing from the bar. Leather Guy, apparently Han Solo, glanced over Ben's head at the creature and said, "Well, well, what have we got here then, Chewie?" The creature growled loudly, and Ben said, "I and my companions here wish to travel to Alderaan. Chewbacca suggested we talk to you."

"Well then," Solo said, tipping his head back and downing the rest of his drink, "if you want to talk business, we'd best take a seat. This way." He grinned down at Alice and mockingly offered her his arm. She stuck her tongue out at him. Laughing, Solo sauntered off, calling back over his shoulder, "I haven't got all day you know."

"Arrogant douchebag," Alice muttered as they followed him. "Do we have to fly with him?"

"Let's see if he'll take our offer first," Ben said chidingly, "and I'll do the talking, young Alice, if you don't mind."

"Fine by me," she said. To her right, she could see Luke smiling and had to resist the urge to thump him in the stomach. _I've really got to be nicer to people._

Solo had taken a seat in a secluded booth towards the back of the room. The furry thing – turned out he was a wookiee, a name which would have made Alice laugh if he wasn't so damn big – sat next to him, and Luke, Alice and Ben piled into the opposite side of the booth, Alice placing herself between her two boys.

Leather Guy waited until they were settled, then leaned back in his seat, "Well, here we are then. I'm Han Solo, captain of the _Millennium Falcon_. So you're looking to go to the Alderaan system?"

"Yes indeed," Ben said, leaning forward on his elbows, "if it's a fast ship."

"Fast ship?" Han said, raising his eyebrows, "You've never heard of the _Millennium Falcon_?"

Ben looked mildly surprised, "Should I have?" Alice snorted, and Han shot her a sideways glare. In a tone of easy arrogance, he said, "It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs."

Alice coughed, and said, in a stage whisper perfectly pitched to carry clearly across the table, "Hmm. You know, sometimes it isn't all about being the fastest. And yes. I do mean that in the way you think I mean it." She heard a disbelieving choking noise from Luke, followed by a similar one from Han. She leaned across the table towards the dumbstruck pilot, smiling sweetly, "Yes?" He pointed at her threateningly, "Listen, girly-"

"Alice," Ben said warningly. She subsided back into her seat, but continued to smile at Han, one eyebrow raised.

"Sometimes your speed is everything," he said, glaring at Alice, "I've outrun Imperial starships. Not the local bulk cruisers, mind you, I'm talking about the big Corillian ships. She's fast enough for you, old man." He glanced around at the three of them. "What's the cargo?"

"Only passengers," Ben said, "myself, the two young ones here, two droids…" He leaned forward, "And no questions asked."

Han seemed to think this a fine joke, breaking into a wide grin, "What is it; some kind of local trouble? Let me guess," he pointed at Alice, "she's involved with it somehow."

"I beg your pardon!" Alice protested, losing her smug grin at once.

"Hey, I'm just saying, wherever there's trouble, there's sure to be a woman in the middle of it all…"

"I don't believe this! You are completely-"

"Alice!" Ben said, more sharply this time. Seething, she began to rap her knuckles against the table, imagining punching Han Solo in his stupidly handsome face.

"As I was saying," Ben said, clearly irritated by Alice's interruptions, "Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements."

"Well, that's the real trick, isn't it," Han said, reaching out and pressing Alice's hand flat against the table to stop her tapping. She glowered at him, and pulled her hand back, muttering uncomplimentary names for him under her breath. "And it's going to cost you something extra." Ben gestured slightly, telling him to go on. Alice forgot her miniature tantrum and held her breath, waiting.

"Ten thousand, all in advance."

To her left, Luke's mouth dropped open in shock, "Ten thousand?!"

"I'm guessing that's a lot," Alice said dispiritedly to Luke. He nodded fiercely, "We could almost buy our own ship for that!"

"But who's gonna fly it, kid?" Han asked cockily, "You?"

Luke seemed to rile at this, and spoke angrily, "You bet I could, I'm not such a bad pilot myself. You know, we don't have to sit here and listen to this, Ben, come on-"

Ben held out a calming hand. Slowly, Luke settled, and Alice squeezed his arm lightly under the table in a gesture of solidarity. Ben replied, "We can pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan."

Han cocked his head on one side, "Seventeen?"

_Well done, you have the mental capacity for basic mathematics!_ Alice opened her mouth to voice her scathing comment, but Ben shot her a fierce glare, and reluctantly she closed it again. _Stupid, idiotic, annoying…_

Han exchanged a brief look with Chewbacca, then smiled, "Okay, you guys've got yourselves a ship. We'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking Bay Ninety-Four."

"Ninety-Four," Ben repeated, clearly extremely satisfied. Han nodded once, then his gaze shifted over Ben's shoulder, and for the first time, he looked serious, "Looks like someone's beginning to take an interest in your handy-work." Alice glanced over her shoulder and saw a couple of storm troopers across the bar, talking with a couple of the patrons. To her horror, a man in a dirty yellow shirt turned and pointed directly at them. The storm troopers nodded, and started to make their way over.

She glanced at Ben, her heart thumping louder than usual, "What's the plan?"

"Luke, quickly, out the back," Ben ordered. Luke stood decisively and grabbing Alice's hand, moved swiftly through the crowd to a small door that nearly blended into the wall. He pushed at a small panel, the door slid silently open and together they ducked out into the fresh air. Alice glanced back over her shoulder just before Ben shut the door behind them – the two soldiers had reached the booth where they'd been sitting with Han and Chewbacca, and not finding them, had simply moved on.

"Phew," she panted, pressing a hand to her chest, "that was scarily close. And yet they were surprisingly easy to evade."

"Come," Ben said, beckoning the two of them away from the tavern, "we have arrangements to make. Luke, we'll have to sell your speeder."

"That's okay," he said, shrugging, "I'm never coming back to this planet anyway."

"Really?" Alice asked, as they started walking back towards where they'd left Artoo and Threepio, "Never?"

"Why would I?" He said, kicking at the sand as they walked, "It's an empty little world. And there's nothing here for me now."

"I suppose," she said, hesitantly.

"Luke, Alice!" They looked up – apparently they weren't going quite fast enough for their elderly companion, "We cannot linger," Ben said, "we do not want to attract attention to ourselves."

"He's so bossy," Alice complained as they tried to catch up with Ben, "old people think they know everything." Luke grinned, "I think Ben does know everything."

She raised her eyebrows and thought wistfully of home, "Not everything, Lukey-boy, not everything."

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	5. I Believe I Can Fly

Hello, lovely people! Sorry for the slight delay in the update, I've been trekking up Welsh mountains for the last two days - luckily the weather wasn't too bad, though there was some snow. :P Fun times.

I have some **shout-outs **for some lovely people: **iloveashandquin** and **Sev**, thank you for reviewing! Since I've been in Wales, you can have some Welsh cakes as your reward. :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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Contrary to Alice's statement about Ben not knowing everything and in accordance with Luke's statement about Ben knowing everything, Ben did seem to know his way around Mos Eisley and led them straight to a spaceship dealer whom he claimed to know from the 'old days'. Alice stared at the back of Luke's head, mystified. _Is he _ever_ wrong? It's…it's a little bit sickening, if I'm honest._

A small fluttery blue buggy thing met them at the entrance of the shop, and spoke to Ben in a raspy and to Alice, incomprehensible language. The old man replied confidently, and gestured to the speeder, which he had parked a few feet away. Then they wandered off, like the bestest of pals.

"Huh." Alice frowned, "Well, now what?"

Luke answered her question for her, by sitting down on the floor with his back up against the sandstone wall of the shop. _Hmm. Not a bad idea. _Shrugging, Alice joined him, Threepio and Artoo following in her wake.

Luke glanced at her as she sat down, a thoughtful expression on his face, "Alice?"

"Oui, monsieur?"

He stared at her. "It's…it's more French. Never mind. Yes?"

"Uh…yeah. I was just going to ask if you had any idea how you ended up here."

_Ha. I don't even have to lie,_ Alice thought.

"No, not at all. I remember being at home on...Gallifrey…and then I woke up here. Maybe I suffered, I don't know…memory loss or something, because of…er, some kind of traumatic experience."

He nodded slowly, "It's why you were completely stranded in the middle of the desert that I don't get. I mean, if you were in a ship and it crashed, it would have been nearby, wouldn't it?"

"I could have walked away from it then collapsed," she suggested, congratulating herself for this plausible detail, "but I can't have been there very long, because like Ben said, I wasn't suffering from exposure or anything. I guess I'll never really know how it happened." _Understatement of the year._

"Well, I promise that as soon as we can, we'll take you home. To Gallifrey." Alice gazed at him, a smile working its way across her face, "You're adorable, you know that?" Awkward pause. Then Artoo whistled loudly, Luke blushed furiously, and what she had just said caught up to her. "Eh, I mean…thanks Luke. Appreciate it." _One day, I'll learn to stop saying things before I think about them. One day…_

"Luke!" They glanced up to see Ben beckoning him over, "Come over here for a moment, would you?"

_Looks like Ben's learned to keep me away from loaded situations important to the continuation of the plot. Smart move._

Alice gave Luke a salute, "See you in a minute."

He nodded, and getting to his feet, hurried over to Ben and his floating friend.

Alice huffed a sigh, "Well, this has been fun so far, eh?" She said to her two metal companions, "Met some boys, been to a bar, chased by soldiers…someone should make a movie of this. Oh, wait…"

"Your language is quite incomprehensible, Miss Alice," Threepio said, quite rudely in Alice's opinion. "You can talk, shiny. You sound like a butler." _Probably because that's what he is…awkward…_

She coughed, and turned to her belt for entertainment. It had a number of little compartments strewn along it, and she had to fight back the urge to make a Batman reference. _I guess I did learn something from watching those silly films with Emi after all._

In one she found a small circle of metal with a couple of buttons on it. She tried pressing them, but nothing happened. _Huh_. There was also a small object that looked like a Dictaphone and a thin square of floppy plastic. _Wow. A floppy disk. Who'd have thought?_ She slipped them both back into their respective pouches and opened the last one, on her right hip.

"What…?" She reached inside and pulled out the sharp knife that was nestled inside the pocket, "Well, fat lot of good that is. People here have laser guns and swords! What's the point of having a knife?"

"You may wish to keep it," Threepio sniffed. It seemed he hadn't quite gotten over the butler comment yet, "you never know what we may come across."

She hesitated, then said, "You reckon?"

"It would be a sound decision."

"Well, if you say so, Threepio."

The golden droid started, and turned to her in surprise, "Do you mean, you are actually going to listen to what I say?"

"Why not?" Alice said, putting the knife away, "You've been in space before and I haven't…uh, well, I haven't _recently_." _Lies! All lies!_ "If you say I'm going to need a knife at some point, I'll certainly listen."

Threepio looked delighted, "Thank you, Mistress Alice, that is most kind of you."

She grinned, and held out a hand towards him, "Truce?"

"Very well," the droid agreed, pressing his metal hand against hers. They shook, and Alice smiled, extremely satisfied.

"We're done." Luke and Ben had finally returned, and Alice scrambled to her feet, "How much did you get for it?"

"Just over two thousand," Ben said, looking pleased with himself, "oh, and I got you these." He handed a long cloak to each of them. Alice held hers out to inspect before slipping it over her shoulders. She met Luke's eyes and struck a pose, "How do I look?"

"Lovely," he said, with a slight smile.

Her mouth moving before her brain could even begin to protest, Alice blurted out, "That's a joke. _You're _prettier than I am."

"Um…thank you?"

Ben coughed, "Come along now, you two. We shouldn't keep our famous pilot waiting." Without waiting for a response from either of them, he strode off, and they had to run to catch up with him.

BREAK

"Do you really think this Han Solo guy can get us to Alderaan? What if we _do _meet Imperial ships?"

They were striding along down a narrow side street that powerfully reminded Alice of a school trip she'd once taken to Venice. One of the perks of studying dead languages like Latin and Greek along with History: fantastic field trips.

And when she said they were striding, they really were going along pretty dramatically. Alice was actually skipping a little, not really listening to Ben and Luke's conversation and immensely enjoying the way the cloak Ben had given her flared out behind her.

Ben shrugged, "If the ship's as fast as his boasting, we ought to do well. Ah, look. There's his first mate."

Alice glanced up, and saw the huge fluffy figure of Chewbacca waiting at the corner of the street. He made a high-pitched purring noise as they approached, and gestured for them to follow him. Alice leaned closer to Luke and muttered, "I'm not supposed to understand him, am I?"

Luke laughed, "Not many people do. It takes a lot of time and patience to learn to speak the language of the wookiees."

"I can imagine," Alice said.

Chewbacca led them into a small courtyard where a slightly rusty, slightly broken, slightly smoke-stained ship was waiting for them. "Hang on…_this _is the ship we're taking?" The wookiee growled, and Han Solo appeared beneath the wing. Alice stared at it. "You are joking, right?" She said loudly, "This thing doesn't look like you could push it up a road without it breaking down, let alone fly it."

"What a piece of junk!" Luke exclaimed in agreement.

"She'll make point five past light speed," Han said, emerging and tucking a cloth into his belt. "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself."

"Excuse me if that doesn't fill me with confidence," Alice said, queasily. Han raised an eyebrow at her, and spoke to Ben, "We're a little rushed, so if you'll just get on board, we'll get out of here."

Ben nodded, and led the other two up the walkway. _My first spaceship_, Alice thought with a mixture of eagerness and consternation, _too bad it's just a rusty pile of scrap metal…_

To be fair to the _Falcon_, if its exterior was underwhelming, the interior was slightly less so. "Oh," Alice said, looking disappointedly at the far from gleaming walls, the piles of loose wire and tools scattered around and the flickering light on the ceiling. "Well…this is…I'm going to be honest, it looks like somewhere people get murdered."

Luke snorted, and shared a conspiratorial glance with her as they followed Ben towards the front of the ship. Chewbacca had settled himself into one of the two seats in the cockpit, and was already flicking switches when Alice and Luke poked their heads around the door.

"So, he understands English," Alice said under her breath, "but he kinda growls? How does that even-"

Her words were cut off by the sudden sound of a small explosion and Han Solo yelling, "Chewie, get us out of here!"

Alice spun to see their infamous pilot dashing up the corridor towards them, weapon in hand. "Out of the way, please!" He shouted, shoving past them to get into the cockpit. "What's happening?" Alice panted as Luke guided her to a nearby chair. "I don't know. Put your seatbelt on." She obeyed without question as the other two strapped themselves in beside her.

"Oh my," said Threepio from across the room, "I'd forgotten how much I hate space travel."

"Are you joking?" Alice said, enthusiastically, "This is going to be _epic_. And at the same time utterly terrifying." The room began to shake as the engines started up with a low grumbling, which grew and grew until finally, the _Falcon _lumbered into the air and soared away. Once they were airborne, the ship gave one more violent shake, then levelled out, the stuttering cough of the engines smoothing into a low purr. "That'll have been the secondary boosters firing," Luke said, glancing up.

"Are we in space now?" Alice asked, trying to find a window somewhere.

"Not yet," Ben said, "wait for it…" A sharp ripple seemed to pass through the ship, but it didn't start shaking again. "There. That was us passing through the atmosphere."

Alice's eyes lit up, "That is so awesome. Can I look?"

"Certainly. You'll see best from the cockpit." She gave a little yelp of glee, and unbuckling her belt, hurried to the front of the ship. She knocked lightly on the cockpit door then burst inside. Her breath caught. Space, inky black, dotted with the clear light of the stars stretched before her, infinite and endless. "Wow…"

"Kid, if you haven't noticed, we've got a bit of a situation – this isn't the time for sight-seeing." Distracted from the beauty of the view outside the window, Alice realised that Han and Chewbacca did look a little on the tense side.

"Stay sharp," Han said, "there's two more coming in, they're going to try and cut us off."

"Two more what now? Luke!"

But the boy was already there, with Ben right behind him – the two of them must have followed her.

"Why don't you try to outrun 'em, I thought you said this thing was fast!"

"Watch your mouth kid, or you're gonna find yourself floating home."

"Geez," Alice muttered, leaning over the back of Han's seat to try and see more clearly, "the testosterone in this room's overwhelming."

"Hey, we'll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace," Han said, "besides, I know a few manoeuvres, we'll lose them."

The ship rocked suddenly to the right, sending Alice tumbling into Luke and Luke crashing into Ben. "Are they shooting at us?" She gasped, struggling to right herself.

"Here's where the fun begins," Han said with a grin. Alice stared at him. "New question. Are you insane?"

"How long before you can make the jump to light speed?" Ben asked quickly.

"It'll take a few moments to get the co-ordinates from the navi-computer."

"Are you kidding?" Luke said, pointing at one of the screens on the control board, "At the rate they're gaining?"

"Travelling through hyperspace ain't like picking crops, boy," Han snapped. "Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it."

Chewie growled, and a red light suddenly started to blink urgently. "Why is that flashing?" Alice asked nervously, "Please tell me it's the 'ready to go to light speed' button?"

"We're losing the deflector shields – go strap yourselves in, I'm going to make the jump to light speed!"

"Good?" Alice said, stumbling out of the cockpit and back down the corridor. "This space travel thing is harder than I thought," she muttered as she staggered into her chair and strapped herself in.

"Get ready," Ben called, he and Luke hot on her heels, "it can be a shock your first time."

"Cheeky," Alice said.

The ship seemed to still. "This is it," said Luke, looking almost as apprehensive as Alice felt. Suddenly, they leaped forward, sending a jolt through the entire room. Alice freaked out. It felt like all the air was being pushed out of her and her internal organs were being pressed together in a big mushy ball. Then, as quickly as it had come, the feeling of pressure disappeared, and everything was back to normal again.

Alice slumped against the back of her chair, panting slightly, "Woah. That was really, really weird."

There was a rustling sound in the doorway, and Han sauntered into the room, looking perfectly at ease. Alice cocked her head on one side and said sardonically, "You do realise, don't you, that we were just chased and shot at by Imperial ships? As in the ultimate baddies? Does nothing faze you?"

"Hey," he said with a shrug, "it's all part of the job, sweetheart."

"Do not," she said, warningly, "call me sweetheart."

"Point taken." He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. Alice eyed him suspiciously, not entirely convinced by this display.

"So what do we do now?" Luke asked the room in general.

"We find a way to entertain ourselves until we come out of hyperspace at Alderaan. Any ideas, darling?" He winked at her, and she raised her eyebrows, "I'm not even going to grace that question with an answer." She glared at him, and muttered under her breath, "_S__weetheart_."

"This would be an excellent time for you to continue training in the ways of the Force," Ben said to Luke, "you need all the practice you can get if you are to use your father's lightsaber as an effective weapon."

"Sure," Luke said, though Alice noticed his gaze lingered mistrustfully on Han.

"Here then," Ben said authoritatively. He drew a small, metal sphere from inside his robe and tossed it into the air. Instead of hurtling through the air to hit Luke in the head, it floated gently about three feet off the ground. "What's that for?" Alice asked, curious despite herself.

Without warning, the sphere shot a red laser from its side, straight towards Luke's face. He ducked, and the laser hit the wall of the ship with a crackle.

"Hey, watch it!" Han said, angrily, rushing to inspect the wall of his ship.

"Oh no," Alice said, with mock horror, while Luke hid a chuckle behind a cough, "what a terrible thing to have happened."

"Draw your lightsaber, Luke," Ben instructed. Dragging his gaze away from the cursing Han, Luke pulled the weapon from his waist and activated it.

"Ben, is this training thing going to be noisy? Because I'm really tired…"

The old Jedi smiled indulgently, "No, no, by all means, young Alice, try and get some rest. You will need your strength, I don't doubt."

Alice yawned, "Yeah, okay. Whatever you say." Artoo bleeped from across the room. "Oh, you want to take a nap too?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the droid. He whistled. "Well, come over here then." Artoo rolled over, settled himself by Alice's chair, and shut down, the little lights on his dome flickering off.

As Ben started coaching Luke on his lightsaber technique, Alice curled up in her chair and fell asleep at once.

She was rudely awoken what felt like five minutes later when a stray laser burst from Ben's floating death ball hit the wall just above her head. She jolted awake, and swore loudly. Amidst Han's enthusiastic laughter, Luke hurried over to her, his expression mortified, "I'm so sorry, Alice, that was an accident."

"I should bloody well hope it was an accident," she said fervently, eyeing the smoking dent in the wall above her head, "I didn't think I'd been so mean that you wanted to start shooting lasers at my head."

"I'm really sorry."

Alice studied him for a moment, saw that he was sincere, and relented. "Don't worry about it," she said, "I suppose it's good practice for later life." She straightened up and felt a twinge of pain in her neck. And her legs. And her arms, and her back… "I feel terrible."

"That's what you get for sleeping in a chair," Han said, his laughter finally fading away enough for him to speak normally.

"Shouldn't you be flying the ship instead of lounging about here?" Alice said, grumpily. Across the room, Luke raised his lightsaber and went back to deflecting laser blasts.

Han ignored her question and went ahead with one of his own, "So. Alice, right? Nice name."

"Thanks." _Creepy._

"You never did say what your part in this little jaunt was."

"I thought part of the deal was that you didn't ask any questions."

"True," he said, shrugging, "but I'm not asking about the journey. I'm asking how you came to be on it." She narrowed her eyes, "I don't think-"

"Come on," he said, lounging back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head, "throw me a bone here, sweetheart. You the kid's sister or what?"

"Why do you want to know?" Alice asked, suspiciously.

He raised an eyebrow, "Guess."

She blushed, and he grinned hugely, "From that little expression I'm going to go with sister."

_Damn it…_

"Not sister," she said, sticking her tongue out at him, "friend."

"Better and better," he said, raising an eyebrow. Alice snorted with laughter, "Pipe down. Actually, I'm sort of his mascot. I follow him around and cheer for him when he does stuff. And what about you, Casanova? You the wookiee's mascot or what?"

He snorted, "Please, sweetheart, if anyone here is the mascot, he's mine."

Chewbacca, sitting over on the other side of the room with Threepio and Artoo (who had apparently finished his nap), looked up and growled loudly.

"I think he disagrees," Alice said, amused.

Han grinned at her, and called at Chewbacca, "Stop whining, fur-ball." Something suddenly started to beep nearby, capturing his attention, "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan." He got out of his seat, and headed for the cockpit, followed by Chewbacca.

Alice yawned, and ran a hand through her hair before getting to her feet. Ben and Luke seemed to be done – at any rate, the little robot laser shooter had disappeared. "Did I miss anything interesting? Or was it just more training?"

"Just training," Ben said, sounding amused, "but I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that Luke made some real progress."

"Marvellous," she said, smiling brightly at Luke and giving him a double thumbs up, "well done."

"Thanks," he grinned.

"So it's just plain sailing now until we land on Alderaan, right?" Alice asked. Famous last words. The _Falcon_ suddenly gave a violent shake, nearly upsetting the three.

"Well, that can't be good."

* * *

**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	6. Deadly Death Star of Doom

Hello again, dear readers! Thanks to everyone who stopped by to have a look at this, and extra-special thanks for those who alerted/favourited/reviewed - this week my **shout-outs** go to: **iloveashandquinn**, a lovely **guest**, **Time-Dog **and **Sev**. Thanks very muchly for reviewing!

Exciting news about the author - I'm living in Turkey now, and flew out two days ago to see my house for the first time! Therefore, I am writing to you from Istanbul - whoop!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

* * *

From the cockpit, their predicament was clear – instead of flying easily towards the planet of Alderaan, they were sailing past huge hunks of floating rock, some bigger than the ship itself. "Meteors? Great…"

"Yeah, and they shouldn't be here," Han said grimly, "our position's correct, but there's no Alderaan."

"What do you mean, where is it?" Luke asked.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, kid, it ain't there. It's been completely blown away."

Alice blinked, trying to remember everything she had learned about astronomy in physics at school. _Damn, why did I have to be good at the humanities rather than the sciences?_ Dredging up something about dying stars, she said, stupidly, "A planet can't just explode, can it?"

"It must have been destroyed by the Empire," Ben said.

Han shook his head, "An entire star fleet couldn't destroy the whole planet, it would take a thousand ships with more firepower than I've ever-" He paused, inspecting the screen. Slowly, a frown formed on his face.

"Oh yay," Alice said miserably, "what is it now?"

"There's another ship coming in."

"What?" Alice said.

"Maybe they know what happened?" Luke suggested.

"It's an Imperial fighter."

Outside the windows, several of the meteors exploded as the fighter's lasers just missed the _Falcon_.

"So they followed us?"

"What?" She tried again.

"No," Ben disagreed, "it's a short range fighter."

Alice rolled her eyes, cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "What?!"

"There aren't any bases around here, so where did it come from?"

_I give up. Wait…_ "Hang on, why are we following it? If it's not chasing us and Alderaan's not here, surely we should just turn around."

"A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own."

"It must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something."

"But _why are we following it_?"

"Because, even if there is an Imperial base nearby, he ain't gonna be around long enough to tell anybody about us," Han said grimly.

"Right, _now _you hear me. Hold on. You mean you're going to blow it up?"

"That's right, sweetheart," he said, leaning forward over the controls.

"Oh…"

"Alice?"

"…Give me a minute." She slipped out of the door, and leant against the wall, feeling torn, when Artoo and Threepio came around the corner. "Oh, Mistress Alice! May I inquire as to the situation?"

"Alderaan's been blown up, we were spotted by an Imperial fighter and now we're going to blow it up even though simply turning around and going back into lightspeed would be an effective way to hide and would involve minimal loss of life."

"An Imperial fighter!" Threepio repeated, alarmed, "Oh, my!"

"Ben's right – I come from a world where you generally don't see violence on a daily basis, and this is a little too much for me!" Artoo warbled sympathetically. "Somewhere along the line, people, I have made a serious error of judgement. I suspect it was the point at which I agreed to come on the dangerous mission to the rebel planet with the old man and the farm boy with the 80s haircut. Dammit! The next civilised planet we come to, I'm staying there!"

But as soon as she said it, she knew she couldn't. _Sure, they're just going to keep leading me into dangerous situations where I'm completely useless, but I don't know anyone else. And despite how annoying the three of them are...I don't want to leave them._ She sighed._ Looks like I'm just going to have to readjust my world view a little, at least until I can go home._ With a groan, Alice went back.

"Sorry guys, just a momentary pause for reflection. What's happening? How much trouble are we in?"

"We're caught in a tractor beam, that space station is pulling us in," Han explained briskly.

"There's got to be something you can do," Luke said, eyeing the fast approaching sphere.

"There's nothing I can do about it kid, I'm at full power. I'm going to have to shut down. They're not going to get me without a fight."

"You can't win," said Ben, "but there are alternatives to fighting."

Alice couldn't contribute to the conversation – she was merely gazing, awestruck at the monumental hugeness of the space station. A vast metallic sphere the size of a planet (well...at least Pluto), it filled the entire view screen, blotting out everything else. "How the hell did they even build that thing?" Alice asked, dismayed, "It must have taken years!" The _Millennium Falcon _was a pinprick in comparison; when they flew up, or rather, were dragged in, towards one of the loading bays, they slipped through the huge steel doors like a minnow through a trawler's net. Silence fell in the cockpit. Until Alice asked the question no one else wanted to.

"So…now what?"

BREAK

"This? This was the best you could come up with?" Alice hissed.

"Well, excuse me, sweetheart, but I notice you weren't particularly keen to offer any ideas!"

"I thought I told you not to call me sweetheart!"

Ben's voice carried clearly from their left. "Silence!"

"I still don't know why I had to go with you," Alice grumbled.

"Because you're the smallest, alright? Don't blame me for the old man's decision."

"Pah."

Alice and Han were currently crammed into a very small compartment under the floor of the _Millennium Falcon_, while Luke and Ben and the two droids were under another two. Chewbacca, being around seven foot tall, had his own compartment. Alice was extremely unhappy with this situation, because in order for them to fit, she was more or less sitting on Han's lap.

"Could you take your hands off me, please," Alice said sharply, slapping the smuggler's hands away from her waist.

"Look, kid, there are loose wires down here! I'm just trying to stop you from electrocuting yourself!" He replied in exasperation.

"Oh, suuuure-"

"Shh!" And for the second time in their acquaintance, Han Solo slapped his hand over Alice's mouth. She huffed in irritation, but remained silent, listening carefully. She heard footsteps over their head, and then a storm trooper's voice saying, "There's no one here." There came some rustling, then more footsteps, which gradually faded away.

Alice waited a moment longer, for safety's sake, then bit down hard on Han's finger.

"Ow!" He dragged his hand away from her, inspecting the bite. "Dammit, woman, what was that for?"

"You deserved it," she said primly, pushing at the floor panel above their heads. Han shot her a glare as he helped her lift the panel, "You're crazy."

"Yeah, well…look at your stupid 80's coiffure! Your hair is so bouffant it's practically made of marshmallow!"

"Han, Alice, please," Ben said, gesturing for them to lower their voices, "we must try and get out of here as soon as possible."

"This is ridiculous," Han said, "even if I could take off I'd never get past the tractor beam."

"Leave that to me," Ben said.

"Oh, I knew you were going to say that."

"Really?" Alice asked, sarcastically, "Did you Han? Somehow I doubt that."

Han rolled his eyes at her as Ben said, "Who's more foolish, the fool or the fool that follows him?"

Alice blew her hair out of her eyes, "You know what Ben, that little statement pretty much sums up my life at this moment."

Chewie wailed, and Alice pointed at him, "See? He knows what I'm talking about."

"They're going to send a scanning team in," Luke said, "what are we going to do?"

"Easy, kid, we wait for them to come in and we knock them out."

"And then…?"

"And then when the two storm troopers who are undoubtedly guarding the entrance to the _Falcon_ come to investigate, we knock _them _out. And then take it from there."

Alice bit her lip, "I can see so many things going wrong with this."

"Where's your sense of adventure, kid?" Han said, getting to his feet, "Come on. Luke, you take this side of the door. Ben, Alice, you get out of sight."

"Bossy," Alice muttered, sinking back into her compartment and letting the floor panel slam shut.

She waited, humming softly to herself, until she heard a loud crash, and Han calling, "Hey, down there! Would you give us a hand with this?" _So, that's the scanning team, now I just have to wait for…_ There was another thump, a groan and two more thuds as the storm troopers collapsed. _There we go._ Pushing away the panel again, Alice pulled herself out and got to her feet. On the floor lay two unconscious storm troopers and two men dressed in grey flight suits.

"Quick, the controllers will be asking themselves where these two are in a second," Han said, grunting slightly as he rolled one of the stormtroopers over. "Alice, help me strip them."

She did as he asked, swallowing back a laugh. Working as quickly as she could, she found the clasp that unlocked the armoured plates and started trying to work the limp man out of the tight jumpsuit beneath. "Couldn't you have just made them strip at gunpoint?" Alice asked, as she wrenched at the clinging material, "It would have been a lot easier."

Han looked at her. Luke looked at her. Ben looked at her. Even Chewbacca looked shocked. "Alright, alright," she said, raising her hands, "calm down. It was just a suggestion."

Five minutes later, after a lot of swearing on Alice's part, they had managed to get the two men out of their storm trooper's suits. Ben ordered Alice to turn her back, and there ensued a lot of rustling and muttering as Luke and Han changed.

"Well," she said as she was finally given the all-clear to turn around and look at them, "don't you two look dashing."

"Right," Han said, holding his helmet under his arm, "we need to get up to that control tower as quickly as possible. From there we'll be able to find the generator for the tractor beam and shut it down."

"Very well," Ben said. Suddenly, a voice issued from Luke's helmet: _"TK-421, why aren't you at your post? TK-421, do you copy?"_

"Time to go," Han said, beckoning Chewie over to help him lift the service hatch in the ship's floor.

"Good luck," Alice whispered to Luke as they dropped one by one through the service hatch in the ship's base. "Sweetheart," Han said from across the room, "we're the ones that're gonna be needing luck."

_Probably true_, Alice thought as she waved at Luke, then jumped lightly to the landing bay's floor. Following Ben, they darted from box to box, dodging the few storm troopers still scattered about, before they reached the lift that would take them to the top level of the control tower.

Alice almost exploded as she repressed the need to start whistling 'Singing in the Rain' or some similarly cheerful tune as they stood, cramped awkwardly together in the lift. Luckily, they reached the top quite quickly, and she let out a huge gasp of relief as she climbed out.

Ben led them to the right, where a thick metal door blocked their way. "Chewbacca," Ben muttered, "get ready." The wookiee growled softly, and raised one huge fist. A moment later, the doorway slid open and Chewie hit a very surprised looking man in the face. He collapsed instantly, and Han, raising his stolen blaster, shot the other man in the room in the chest. They surged into the room, Alice running directly to the windows overlooking the landing bay, "I don't think anyone heard."

The door hissed shut behind them, and Alice glanced round to see Luke pulling his helmet off, "You know, between his howling and your blasting everything in sight, it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here."

"Well, bring 'em on, I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around," Han said.

"Would you two please stop bickering," said Alice, rolling her eyes, "it's like being back at primary school."

"You're not exactly perfect yourself, little lady," Han said, indignantly.

"While I am both little and a lady, I object to being referred to as such. Equally off-limits are the endearments 'sweetheart', 'honey', 'darling' and 'duckling' because I just don't like that one."

"What the hell is a duckling?"

"A baby duck, you tight-trousered fool."

"We've found the computer outlet, sir." Luke, Han and Alice turned in surprise to see Threepio waiting patiently for their attention.

Ben looked pleased, "Good. Plug in, Artoo should be able to interpret the entire Imperial network."

Artoo whistled obediently, and as he had done with the door at Ben's house, he started to hack into the computer.

Alice fidgeted, and fanned her face while she waited, "God it's hot." Han and Luke gave her a strange look. "What? I can't be the only one who's feeling the heat. Seriously? Well then. Sorry to interrupt the tense and brooding atmosphere…"

"Where did you pick this one up?" Han said in disbelief, cocking his thumb at Alice.

"You love it, space man," she said, with an awkward eye-twitch she had originally intended to be a wink, "Okay, ignore that. That wasn't supposed to happen…"

"Master Luke?" Everyone turned to face Threepio, "He says he's found the main controls to the power beam that's holding the ship here. He'll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor."

Artoo twisted the dial to the right, and suddenly thin green lines appeared on one of the screens, joining together to make what Alice assumed was a detailed map of the station, "The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave." The map zoomed in suddenly, and part of it started to flash, highlighting, probably, the location of the nearest terminal.

The humans glanced around at each other. Alice took a step back, raising her hands in the air, "Don't look at me, I'd be useless. I almost failed my half-GCSE IT course."

Ben nodded, "And I don't think you boys can help either. I must go alone."

"Whatever you say," Han said, "I've done more than I bargained for on this trip already."

"Wow," Alice said, looking at him, "I knew you were a callous mercenary only interested in helping himself, but that's heartless, my friend. You didn't even _offer _to help."

"Sorry to disappoint, missy," he said, "but with me, what you see is what you get."

Alice snorted "Well, that explains a lot."

Luckily a pointed cough from Ben stopped Han from shouting at her. Alice waved at the old man, "Good luck! Come back safe, alright?"

He smiled dryly, "I make no promises, my girl, but I will certainly try." He addressed Luke once more, too quietly for Alice to hear, then departed. Alice sighed, "I get the nasty feeling that something really bad is going to happen."

Chewbacca grumbled loudly, and Han replied, "You said it Chewie. Where did you two dig up that old fossil?"

Alice glared at him, "Shut up, flyboy, you don't know what you're talking about. Though I appreciated the way you used 'dig up' and 'fossil' to keep a common theme running through the line. Well done. But you're still wrong. Ben's great."

"Yeah, great at getting us into trouble," Han said derisively.

"I didn't hear you giving any ideas!" Luke exclaimed, clattering over in his storm-trooper armour.

As they shouted at each other, Artoo beeped at Alice, loudly and insistently. She bent down next to him, "Huh?" He beeped again, more slowly. "Yup, that's what I thought you said."

She straightened up again, and raised her voice to get the attention of her two squabbling boys, "Guys! Shhhhhhhh." She waited, smiling brightly as the two of them turned on her, faces disbelieving, "Artoo is trying to say something, if you don't mind." She gestured elegantly to the droid, "Artoo."

The droid bleeped, and all three humans glanced at Threepio for a translation. "I'm not quite sure what he means sir," the golden droid said apologetically, "he keeps repeating 'I've found her', and 'she's here'."

"Did you say 'she'?" Alice asked, scrambling to the monitor and leaning over it, "Do you mean to say there is actually another woman in this galaxy? Another sentient being without a Y chromosome, or implied masculinity?"

"Believe me, I'd be crying if you were the only one left," Han grumbled, glancing over her shoulder at the screen. Without taking her eyes from the screen, Alice reached up and flicked Han's ear. "Ow!"

"Who?" Luke said, confused, "Who has he found?"

"Princess Leia," Threepio said.

Luke looked extremely excited about this, "The princess? She's here?" Alice frowned, "Hold on, who was that again?"

"Princess?" Han repeated, clearly extremely confused by all this.

"The woman from the recording saved in Artoo's memory systems," Threepio explained.

"Ohhh. Gandalf. Gotcha. So what are you planning to do about it, Luke?"

"Planning? Who says I'm planning anything?"

"Your face just gives it away," Alice said, wryly.

He looked guilty for a trifle of a second, then grinned, "Well. Where is she, Artoo?"

"What is going on?" Han demanded.

Artoo bleeped, and Threepio said, "Level Five, Detention Block AA-23." Another pause, and another series of high pitched whistles from Artoo. "Oh dear…"

"What?" Alice and Luke asked together.

"Well, I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated."

Alice felt as if her stomach had just dropped out. The princess was going to be killed?

"Oh shi-"

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	7. In Which Things Go Wrong

Hello again, welcome to all new readers, and thank you to all of you that are keeping up with this fic - it's much appreciated. :) Everyone that reviews gets a **shout-out**; this week's lucky two are **SerenityMoonPrincess **and **Unfathomable Chaos**, so mince pies for you guys.

General note: I've had some inquiries in the reviews as to whether there'll be any romance developing between any of the characters at this point in time, to which I reply...wait and see! :)

Seeing as this will be my last update before Christmas (day after tomorrow!), I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a belated Happy Holidays for anyone that doesn't celebrate Christmas. :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

* * *

_Princess Gandalf is gonna die?_

Alice stared at Luke, her eyes wide. He looked just as desperate as she felt, "We've got to do something!"

Han yawned, and eyed them suspiciously, "Would someone please explain what you are talking about?"

"The droids belong to her, she's the one in the message," Luke said by way of explanation, forgetting perhaps that since Han wasn't there for that bit, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to him, "we have to help her!"

"She's a rebel leader who was carrying important information to Alderaan. When her ship was attacked she transferred the information to Artoo here and jettisoned him to Tatooine with a message to Ben to take the droids to Alderaan for her," Alice recited at lightning speed, pleasantly surprised and quite proud of how much she'd remembered.

Han raised his eyes to the ceiling and pointed at Luke sternly, "Now look, don't get any funny ideas, the old man wants us to wait right here."

"But he didn't know she was here! If we could just find a way into that detention block..."

The smuggler collapsed nonchalantly into a chair, saying, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh come on, Han," Alice said, imploringly, "they're going to execute her! And she's only about my age! Would you honestly just let me die?"

He snorted, "Do you really want an answer to that question?"

"Ha ha! Son of a-"

Luke cut Alice off before she could finish her rather uncomplimentary sentence. "Look, a few minutes ago you said you didn't want to just wait here to be captured, now all you want to do is stay?"

"Marching into the detention levels is not what I had in mind!"

"But they are going to_ kill_ her!" Alice said, separating each word clearly, "God, you really are heartless, aren't you?!"

"Better her than me," Han said resolutely, and Alice threw her arms up to the ceiling in frustration. Luke met her gaze. They stared at each other for a moment. And then they both had the same idea. _Bam._

Luke cocked his head on one side, as if confirming if she really was thinking what he was thinking. Alice nodded, and stepping up behind Han's chair, she rested her hands lightly on his shoulders. He tensed up, and glanced over his shoulder at her suspiciously.

"You know, Han," she said, persuasively, "she_ is_ a princess."

"So?"

"So," Luke said, leaning in towards the pilot, "she's rich."

Chewbacca growled. Han met the boy's eyes, curiosity clearly piqued, "Rich?"

Alice smiled, "Rich, powerful…if you were to rescue her, the reward would be..."

"What?"

"Well, it would be more than you could imagine," Luke said, vaguely.

"I don't know," Han disagreed, "I can imagine quite a bit."

"You'll get it," said Luke, instantly.

Han was still suspicious, and looked carefully between the two of them. Alice put on her warmest and (she hoped) most convincing smile. "I'd better get it."

"You will! Every last penny, darling."

Slowly, Han nodded, "Alright, kid. But you'd better be right about this."

Alice made a silent victory fist. _Success!_ Luke met her eyes, grinning, and gleeful, she leaned down and kissed Han on the cheek. "I knew you'd come round," she said, grinning, "you manly space pilot, you."

"Alright, alright," he said, rolling his eyes (though Alice thought he looked a tiny bit smug), "what's your plan kid?"

"Ummm…Threepio, hand me those binders over there would you?"

Alice watched as the droid passed the handcuff-esque items to Luke. The boy studied them for a minute, then strode over to Chewbacca, "Right. Now, I'm gonna put these on you-"

Chewbacca roared, and both Alice and Luke flinched away. Alice held up her hands soothingly towards the wookiee, "Hey, calm down, teddy bear. We're still in the middle of the enemy battle-station thingy, remember."

"You're learning fast," Han said, getting to his feet and taking the handcuffs from Luke.

"Yeah, well," Alice said, rolling her eyes, "I don't really have a choice, do I."

Han half-smiled, and said to Chewie, "Hey, don't worry buddy. I think I know what he has in mind." And he held out the binders towards his friend. Chewie groaned briefly then held out his fluffy paws, and allowed Han to cuff him.

Alice watched the proceedings with a growing feeling of unease, which only got worse as Luke grabbed his helmet again and tucked his blaster under his arm. "Oh, dear. I think I know what your plan is too, Luke."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah...your plan is to walk straight into the detention levels, Chewie in tow and blast everything in sight, in the hope that you can kill them all before an alarm sounds. Well, that's just pure genius, isn't it."

"Really?"

"No. If a girl's life wasn't on the line, I would say this was the stupidest plan I'd ever heard. Still. If it works for George Lucas, it'll work for me."

"What is she talking about?" Han asked.

Luke shrugged, and turning to Alice, held up a small, Dictaphone-esque item, just like the one she'd found in her belt when waiting for Luke and Ben to sell the speeder. "This is a comlink. I've already tuned it, so that when you press this button, I'll hear you. I'm going to need you, Artoo and Threepio on standby in case we get into any trouble, okay?"

"I've already got one, thanks," she replied, pulling hers out of its little pocket, "that's right. Look at me. Ready for anything. Oh yeah."

"Well, take this one, and hang on to that one just in case." Alice obligingly took the spare comlink and leaned back against the desk, studying it briefly before glancing back up at the two morons (plus Chewbacca).

"Fine. Remind me...what am I supposed to do if they find us here?"

"Lock the door," Luke said.

"And hope they don't have blasters," finished Han.

"Well that's reassuring. Good luck, idiots!"

"Wait," Han said. He pulled a small blaster from the holster on his thigh and passed it to her. "The trigger's here. Just pull it and hold on. Oh yeah, and do try and aim."

"Thanks, honey. I'll do my best. Be careful!" They left.

Alice looked at the blaster in her hands, then up again at the two droids. She smiled brightly. "We're all going to die."

"Oh no..."

BREAK

Half an hour after Han and Luke had left found Alice lounging in Han's vacated swivel chair, her boots planted firmly on the desk in front of her and lazily plaiting several strands of hair together. In short, she was bored.

"Well, this is turning out to be a lot more peaceful than I thought," she said, sighing. "I hope the others are okay..."

Artoo whistled, and Alice glanced at Threepio. "He says that if they had been caught, we would probably be having a worse time of it ourselves."

Suddenly, the com link in Alice's hand beeped loudly. Bolting upright in her seat, she pressed the receive button as Luke had showed her, "Luke? Hello? Can you hear me?"

Luke sounded extremely strained as he shouted, "_Are there any other ways out of the cell bay? We've been cut off!_"

Alice pointed Threepio towards the controls. He and Artoo studied them for a moment, then the golden droid said, in a tone of near panic: "A system wide alert has been sent out!"

"Luke! All systems have been alerted, they're looking for you!"

"_What? I didn't copy that!_"

"I said, _everyone is looking for you_! The main entrance is the only way in or out – Artoo says all other information for the level you're on is restricted."

"Open up in there!" There was a loud hammering on the thick door, and Alice jumped like a startled rabbit. "Oh lord..."

"_Alice?_"

"Sorry, Luke, got to go!" Cutting off the link, Alice grabbed Threepio by the arm and shepherded him into a small supply closet. "Artoo, come on!" The little droid shrieked and raced after her. As soon as he was in, Alice slammed the door shut. "Okay, guys, stay calm. And keep quiet."

"Oh dear, oh dear," Threepio lamented noisily, "we're all doomed!"

"Threepio!" She hissed, "What did I _just_ say?"

The com link bleeped again, and Luke's voice came thundering out, "_Alice? Threepio!_"

"Luke, could you please be quiet!" Alice spoke quickly into the device, "We're hiding in a cupboard and if you keep shouting they'll hear us!"

There was a loud bang from outside the cupboard door. _Oh no..._ As quickly as she could, Alice muted the com link and shoved it into her pocket. She was just in time. The door was flung open, and a very large gun was thrust, unfriendly-end first into Alice's face. Thinking quickly, she burst into tears. It didn't take much effort, to be honest – she'd never been threatened with a gun before, and the experience rather lent itself to tears. The two storm troopers glanced uncomfortably at each other, and Alice was intensely grateful that whoever trained the Imperial soldiers had left the male 'panic-when-a-girl-cries' reaction untouched.

"You have to help me," she sobbed, "I was just visiting my father and then these two men broke in and they, they shot him!" She cast a hand tragically towards the bodies of the operatives that Han and Chewie had taken out earlier. "They're headed to the detention levels! Hurry, you might still be able to catch them!"

Looking frankly relieved to have an excuse to leave the room, the storm trooper on the right, clearly the leader, said, "Follow me!"

Most of the soldiers went after him – only one was left behind to stand guard. _Right. Time to prove I'm not as useless as I look_. Alice thought. Still snivelling pitifully, she went over and tapped the man on the shoulder, "Excuse me…" As he turned, she had one moment to think, _Sorry..._ before she punched him hard in the face. The man staggered back, but otherwise seemed fine, while Alice hopped away, holding her throbbing hand, "Ouch! Damn, that really hurt!"

"Miss Alice!" Threepio cried, "Watch out!"

The storm trooper was in the act of lifting his hand to his helmet, clearly about to call for help. In desperation, Alice grabbed him by the arm and kneed him in the groin – the only part, she noted, that wasn't really protected by the armour he wore.

This time, he crumpled with a little squeak of pain. She hesitated for a moment, but feeling determined, she hit him again on the head, this time with the butt of the blaster Han had given her.

It was extremely unpleasant, feeling him go all floppy as the result of her blow, and she winced as his head banged hard against the floor. "I'm so sorry," she said, moving forward to take his helmet then searching him for any other methods of communication.

Satisfied he wouldn't be able to sound the alarm when he woke up, she grabbed him by the arms, and grunting, dragged him into the supply cupboard. _Um...problem... _She didn't know how to lock it, and she didn't want to shoot the control panel in case someone heard the noise. Searching for something, anything she could use, her hand lighted on the belt around her waist. _Huh…wait. Idea!_ Her eyes lighting up, Alice reached into one of the pockets on the belt and pulled out the knife she'd examined earlier.

Not quite sure what else to do, she jammed it into the side of the panel, wiggled it and prised the metal cover off, leaving only the exposed wiring beneath. Alice flipped the knife in her hand, "What do you know, Threepio. It did come in handy." Gingerly, she reached into the wall socket, and yanked the wiring out, dropping it quickly just in case it shocked her or something.

It didn't; it simply lay limply against the wall, sparking slightly. "Phew," Alice said, with a smile, "well, job well done, I think. Luke would be proud of me-" She stopped, suddenly remembering the three people that were relying on her and who she hadn't thought of in about ten minutes, "Uh-oh..." Reaching into her pocket, she unmuted the com link to hear Luke screaming at her at the top of his voice. "_Alice! Threepio! Where are you?_"

"Luke! Luke, I'm here! What's the matter, what do you need?"

"_Some help you are!_"

"Well, I'm _sorry_, but I was having a bit of trouble myself, as it happens!"

"_Will you shut up and listen to me? Tell Artoo to shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!_"

"Rude," Alice said, turning to Artoo, "well, you heard him, Wall-e, get moving."

Artoo whistled sharply and started work immediately. Alice waited, tense, listening with growing fear as Luke continued to scream for them to turn off the garbage crushers. "How in the hell did they end up in a garbage crusher?" She muttered anxiously, "Stupid, stupid...men."

"Oh dear…hurry!" Threepio sounded as nervous as Alice felt, and she gripped the droid's arm hard. Suddenly, all noise from the com link stopped. Alice thought her heart might give out, and she leaned over the device, "Luke? Han? Do you copy? For the sake of all things…bright and beautiful, are you alive?"

Silence…and then delighted laughter echoed from the speakers. Alice staggered, closing her eyes, "You bastard, I thought you'd died!"

"_We're alright, we're alright! You did great! Hey, could you open-_"

Alice handed the com link to Threepio, saying, "You take care of whatever he wants now, I just need to breathe for a second."

Panting, her heart hammering, Alice leaned over the control desk, feeling adrenaline-fuelled tremors pass through her, making her shake from head to toe.

_Right. Break into Death Star, check. Almost die, check. Now all we need to do is get out of here._

"Right, come on guys, we need to get back to the _Falcon. _Artoo, we can find another outlet if we need to open more doors for Master Skywalker, right?"

The droid whistled an affirmative. "Great, then let's go. Down the lift."

She took the com link from Threepio and slipped it into her pocket, but didn't mute it. _I just hope that if Luke has any more requests he won't bloody scream them at me._

Together she and the two droids snuck out of the lift, and hid themselves behind a couple of large metal crates.

At her waist, the com link beeped quietly, and Alice pulled it from her belt, shielding the speakers with her hand to stop Luke's voice from carrying.

"_Alice, do you copy?_"

"Yup."

"_Are you safe?_"

"For the time being, yeah," she said, looking around, "we're back in the main hangar, across from the _Falcon_. It's being guarded. Six or so storm troopers."

"_I see them,_" he said, reassuring her, "_we're right above you. Stand by. We'll be down in a minute._"

"Did you get the princess?"

"_Sure did_."

"Excellent. Bravo." She shut off the link and said, "They're coming."

"Good," Threepio said, "the sooner we get off this dreadful space station, the better."

But in five minutes, Han and Luke hadn't appeared. Alice paced anxiously, her hand resting on the blaster Han had given her, "Damn it, where are they?"

No sooner had she spoken than she heard a loud crackling, humming noise, coming from across the hangar. She poked her head up from behind the crates, and her mouth dropped open. _Oh my god…_

Ben was fighting Darth Vader. _The_ Darth Vader. He of the loud breathing and odd voice. The one that dressed all in black and used a red lightsaber. _This is…this is really, really bad. And just a tiny bit terrifying._

The storm troopers, having spotted the disturbance as well, started running across the hangar, leaving the entrance of the _Falcon _clear. "Mistress Alice, let's go!"

"But…"

Threepio and Artoo started rolling across the shiny floor as fast as their legs (and/or tyre treads) could take them. But Alice hesitated – she was scared for Ben.

There was a clatter of feet to her left, and glancing over, she saw Luke and company barrelling towards her, with one new addition: a woman in flowing white robes and sporting a very unusual hairstyle. Han and the woman ran immediately for the _Falcon_, but Luke's eyes, like Alice's, were drawn to Ben. He slowed, then changed direction, calling, "Ben!" He halted in the middle of the room, and Alice hurried to his side, her heart beating in her mouth. The old man turned his head to glance at the two of them. He smiled. Then, as the storm troopers surrounded the two combatants, and Darth Vader raised his weapon, he moved his lightsaber out of the way, leaving himself wide open for Vader's attack.

_WHAT?_

Alice gaped in shock as the red blade sliced through the old man's body like butter – but instead of his body falling to the floor in two separate pieces, Ben's cloak simply fluttered to the floor, empty. There was a moment of deathly silence. Then Luke screamed beside her, "No!" It was weird though, all of a sudden, she couldn't really hear him properly - there was just a buzz of static instead of a clear stream of information interpreted by her brain.

She thought she might be screaming too though. She was aware of the feeling of her lungs emptying of air, contrasted with an odd sense of her body filling with a mix of anger and sheer bloody confusion too large to be articulated.

Then the storm troopers turned towards her, and opened fire, and some degree of sense returned. Alice turned and ran - someone grabbed her hand and dragged her onwards, faster, and they were shouting her name but she couldn't hear properly-

"Alice! Alice, snap out of it!"

She gasped. Suddenly, sound rushed back in and was clear, and she found herself standing in the _Millennium Falcon's _cabin, Luke's hands gripping her shoulders. She felt slightly dizzy, and got the sense that he'd been shaking her. Memory quickly followed the ability to hear, and she snatched at his upper arms, frantically beating back the shock of Ben's death as she asked, "Are we out? Did we make it?"

He nodded, "Yeah. We're out."

"Oh." They gazed at each other for a moment, then automatically, they hugged each other. Now that she could think, Alice realised how horrible this must be for Luke. After all, he'd known Ben much better than her. _It must be like losing his aunt and uncle all over again... _That thought was quickly followed by the realisation that she couldn't just stand being hugged by Luke Skywalker all day, especially when he was probably worse off than her.

With a slight cough, Alice pulled herself together. She straightened up slightly and said, her voice sounding odd and strangled, "Are you okay?"

Luke laughed incredulously, "Am _I _okay? Have you seen yourself?"

Alice tried to joke, "Gee, thanks, way to make a girl feel special."

"I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"It's fine. I was trying to...never mind. Let's sit down, okay?"

She guided him towards the booth and settled herself beside him, their clasped hands resting on the table top. Alice couldn't think of anything else to say, and apparently neither could Luke, so they sat in silence. _Why do I feel so bad about this?_ She asked herself. _I didn't even know him that well. I guess it was just so sudden..._

"I just can't believe he's really gone," Luke said numbly.

"Yeah," she mumbled, "me neither." They gazed at each other, and Artoo warbled mournfully.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	8. So Basically, It's a Rubbish Plan

Hello again! I hope you all had a very nice holiday season and are looking forward to the start of 2013! Anyone gonna make any New Year's resolutions? I should probably try to give up chocolate for about the third year running (no success so far). I've had a lot of fun wandering around Turkey - I saw _The Hobbit_ which was completely awesome, and which everyone else should definitely also see.

**Shout-out** to **Undertaker's Hattress** (great name by the way) for reviewing - it's always lovely when people review. :)

Anyway, hope you enjoy this week's chapter - I can't believe we're already getting to the end of _A New Hope_!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

* * *

Suddenly, the mournful silence that had fallen between Luke and Alice was broken by a slight cough. For some reason, lifting her head to find the source seemed an impossibly difficult task, but she managed it. There was a woman standing in the door way. For a second, Alice failed to realise the significance of this. Then she remembered who this was.

"Your Majesty," Alice said, trying to nod as politely as she could with tiredness weighing on her like a ten tonne brick.

"Please," said the woman, coming closer, "call me Leia. I would just like to say that, well, I don't think that there was anything more you could have done for General Kenobi. He would have wanted you to escape."

_She's quite pretty, really,_ Alice thought idly, _despite the unfortunate hairstyle. Kind of like Luke._ She froze. _Holy crap, I just remembered. They're brother and sister, aren't they? That's one of the things about Star Wars that everyone knows. Luke and Leia are twins. Only, I'm not supposed to tell them – right?_

Luckily, her mouth was able to reply for her while her brain went on a momentary holiday, "Oh. Thank you."

Han came clattering into the room, and gave Alice and Luke a brief, sympathetic look, "Come on, guys, we're not out of this yet."

His voice acted as a pretty effective galvaniser. Alice got to her feet and hurried to the cockpit, followed by Leia, while Luke and Han made for the twin gun pods.

"I'm Alice Miller, by the way," Alice said over her shoulder to Leia as they went, "good to meet you."

"Princess Leia Organa," her companion replied. Alice blinked. _Fancy._

They clattered into the cramped cockpit, Leia sliding into what was normally Han's seat while Alice took up a place between the two chairs.

"What have we got, Chewie?" Alice said, peering nervously through the front screen. Leia glanced down at the monitor and rapped out, "Four Imperial fighters."

"Ah," Alice said grimly, "fun."

Chewbacca growled loudly, and spun the ship fiercely to avoid oncoming laser blasts. Through the crazed whirl of stars and the green of the Imperial lasers, Alice saw one of the Imperial ships swerve to avoid a volley of the _Falcon's_ red lasers.

She gripped the back of Leia and Chewie's chairs hard to steady herself, flinching as the ship was struck and the lights flickered briefly.

"We've lost lateral controls," Leia called into the open communication line between the gun pods and the cockpit.

_"Don't worry,"_ Han's voice came back over the speaker, _"she'll hold together."_

Tense silence fell as the three of them watched the four enemy ships spiral around them, somehow just managing to stay ahead of Luke and Han's shots. _Come on,_ Alice thought, crossing her fingers.

Han's yell of triumph made Alice jump, but she grinned as one of the four fighters exploded into fragments. Another followed soon after, accompanied by a shout of, _"I got him!"_ from Luke.

"There are still two more of them out here," Leia warned.

To Alice's relief, it didn't take much longer for the men to take out the two remaining ships. The last one blew up with a satisfying finality, and Chewie rumbled cheerfully.

"We did it!" Leia hugged the wookiee, then leaped from her chair and grabbed Alice. Slightly startled, but smiling herself, Alice hugged her back, "Whoop! Good job everyone!" Leia laughed and settled herself back into the captain's seat. Alice shook her head, and made her way along the corridor and climbed down into Han's gun pod.

"Hey," she said quietly, leaning against the door.

"You alright, kid?" He asked, surprisingly gently, swivelling in his chair to face her.

"Okay. Thanks to you. Good shooting, cowboy."

"Cowboy…?"

"Never mind," she said, raising her eyes to the ceiling, "I keep forgetting you're all social rejects who don't understand anything I'm saying. I should really work on that."

"No need," he said, getting to his feet and walking towards her, "it gives every conversation an air of insanity. Sure does liven things up."

"Gee thanks." He smiled, and Alice found to her surprise, that he had actually cheered her up. "I guess you're not so bad after all, are you."

"I try."

"Han!"

Luke burst into the room, grinning; he took half a step forward, then froze, looking awkward. Alice frowned, confused. Then she realised that Han had gotten really quite close to her since he got to his feet. _Hang on...do I have my back against the door frame? Oh, no...  
_

She studied Luke's carefully neutral expression, then glanced up at Han, who wasn't helping matters by looking a trifle guilty. _Does Luke think...nothing happened...I'm not- damn._

Deciding it was time to break the awkward silence and get the hell out of there, Alice yawned loudly, and said, "Um…wow, I'm tired again. I'm going to go sleep. For a year or so, probably. Wake me up if we get attacked again, or if anything interesting happens. Yeah…bye."

Luke moved silently to let her past, and she could feel both of their gazes lingering on her back as she climbed the ladder. _Oh god, that was awkward._

"Mistress Alice, I take it that for now, we are safe?"

"Um…yeah. I guess so."

When she reached the cabin, she found the princess sitting in one of the seats, a thoughtful expression on her face. She looked very out of place in the slightly grimy room, in her pristine white robes.

"Um, hi," Alice said, awkwardly.

The princess started, and glanced up at her, "Hello, Alice Miller." She smiled a little, the gesture looking slightly uncomfortable on her face, "I suppose I must thank you."

"Um..." Alice went and sat down in the swivel chair Han had been sitting in earlier, "What for?"

"For rescuing me," Leia said.

Alice snorted, "Trust me, I was not the one responsible for the rescuing bit."

The princess frowned delicately and said, "Weren't you the one who turned off the garbage crusher?"

"Well…" Alice paused, "Not as such...I was involved..." She looked up, saw the princess's expression, and said, lamely, "How about I just say 'you're welcome'?"

Leia nodded, "Perhaps that would be good." There was a slight pause. Then Leia said, "Are you friends with the other two?" Something about the way she asked this conveyed disapproval – Alice guessed it was directed towards Han.

"Well, I've known one of them for one day and the other for two days," Alice said, thoughtfully, "so yeah. I'd say we're tight."

"...Tight?"

Alice almost laughed at the slightly scandalised expression on her face, and clarified, "For the amount of time we've known each other, we're on surprisingly good terms."

"Oh."

A moment later the aforementioned gentlemen entered the room and paused in the doorway, staring at the two women as if they'd never seen such things before.

Alice and Leia stared back. Then Alice said, "Well. This is nice. Anyone for a game of bridge?"

"Bridge?" Luke said, raising an eyebrow.

"You realise that nothing you say makes sense," Han commented.

Alice hmphed, "The manner of your proposal could only have spared me the concern I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner."

"I rest my case," he said. Turning to Leia, he bowed mockingly, and said, "Your highness. I assume that you want to be taken somewhere."

"Yes-"

"Then by all means," Han interrupted, gesturing towards the door he had just entered through, "tell me where that is, so that I can get you off my ship as soon as possible."

Leia looked at him coldly, "My pleasure." With a nod at Alice, she got to her feet and swept from the room, Han strutting along behind.

Alice slumped back in her chair, smiling tiredly, "Well. They make a _lovely_ pair."

Luke frowned, "Do you think so?" She looked at him. _Oh dear. I bet he'd probably still believe in Father Christmas if they had such a thing as Christmas here. _"No, darling, no. That was sarcasm. If someone was writing this down, there would be italics there."

"Oh."

Alice had to stifle a laugh at his sheepish expression, turning the sound into a slightly guilty cough, "I'm going to go to sleep now."

His look of mild confusion morphed into a sweet smile, and she had to reflect that, really, he was rather lovely, "Sleep well."

"Thanks," she said, going back to her chair and curling up in it, "night. Or morning. Or whatever time it is."

BREAK

"Alice? Wake up, kid, we're here." Alice opened one eye tentatively to see Han leaning over her, one hand resting lightly on her shoulder. The cabin was dark, and still, indicating they weren't in flight anymore and corroborating his statement.

"And 'here' is where exactly?" She asked, standing up stiffly and stretching, "And why am I the only person who sleeps on this ship?"

"You're not," he said with a grin, jerking a thumb across the cabin. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she saw Luke and Leia slumped side by side, their heads pressed together. Alice didn't know whether to coo or snort, "Well...what a...peaceful scene."

"Yeah, well," the smuggler said, crossing the room to wake them, "you should see Her Highness when she's awake. She's worse than you, and trust me, sweetheart, that's saying something." He paused, as if considering the truth of his own words, and perhaps rethinking his decision to wake Leia up.

"You are charming," Alice said. She eyed him, grinning, "Do you want me to wake her up, oh fearless captain?"

"Hmm," he said, glancing between her and the sleeping princess, "well, if you'd rather be the one who risks enraging the wild bantha, be my guest." He winked at her as he backed away, "I'll be up front."

"Coward!" She called after him; she heard his faint laugh echo down the hallway and smiled to herself. She felt a lot better for her long nap, though Ben's death still preyed at the back of her mind. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she leaned over Luke and Leia and called, "Rise and shine, my lovelies! It's time to rock and roll!"

Luke opened his eyes drowsily, and started, clearly surprised to find Alice's face so close. She had to laugh at the shocked expression on his face, and either that or Luke's sudden movement woke Leia, who looked grumpy to say the least. Alice cut her off before she could sentence her to death or something, with the words, "We've arrived at our mystery destination, wherever it is. Personally, I don't have a clue. I'm hoping one of you does."

Leia brightened at this, and got to her feet at once, "Excellent. We've reached the rebel base. Finally, I can complete my mission. Artoo," she turned to the droid, who was sitting quietly in the corner, "come with me. The engineers will need to retrieve the information I stored in your memory drive."

Artoo beeped apprehensively, and Alice smiled encouragingly at him, "Don't worry, buddy, I'll stick with you the whole time. Honestly, it'll be fine." She glanced at Leia, "It will be fine, won't it?"

"What? Oh, yes, of course. Now come quickly, we shouldn't keep the commander waiting." And with that she strode down the corridor, opened the _Falcon's _main door and simply went swanning out.

Alice raised her eyebrows at Luke, "She's something, isn't she?"

"Yeah, a pain in the ass," Han's voice answered her from the doorway. Alice laughed, but stopped, noticing the slightly hurt expression on Luke's face. "Of course, I'm sure she's lovely. She's just been under a bit of pressure lately. You know, leading the rebels. Being captured. Nearly being executed and so on..."

_What am I talking about? I don't know if she's lovely. Ah, the fun I have, the rubbish I talk._

It seemed to pacify Luke however, and he left the ship, jogging slightly to catch up with Leia. Han grinned at Alice as they hesitated in the doorway, watching the other two, "He's known her two days and he's already soft on her. There's something wrong with that kid."

"Ha ha...you can say that again." _Given that they are BROTHER AND SISTER, OH MY GOD, THIS IS SO CREEPY_.

"Well, better not keep them waiting," she went on, smiling awkwardly. He nodded, "After you."

"Aha!" She pointed at him in triumph. "So you are a gentleman really." He rolled his eyes, "Get out of the ship, kid, before I throw you out. Goldenrod, Whistly, you coming?"

"Of course they are." Alice smiled in satisfaction as Threepio and Artoo joined her, and led the way out of the ship, Han close behind.

The rebel base turned out to be a pretty, leafy moon named Yavin Four hidden in space behind Yavin (which Alice thought was a stupid name for a planet, but given the number of planets in the galaxy, it was probably fair to expect that they ran out of good ones ), the planet it orbited around. Apparently this was good camouflage; Alice wasn't so sure.

The Rebel Alliance had set up shop in a large, stone temple, a lot like the ones built by the Maya on Earth. Alice almost laughed aloud when she saw it, and nudging Han, said, "Get your whip out, Indy!" (As a history buff, she _had_ seen the Indiana Jones films.) He stared at her like she was mad, while she went off into enthusiastic gales of laughter at her own wit.

Princess Leia, reaching the entrance first, received a warm welcome which was extended, once she explained recent events (and Alice stopped laughing maniacally), to her rescuers. "It was nothing," Alice said breezily to the soldier at the door, "literally, I did nothing."

Luke, Han and Alice, as friends of the princess, were each given a small apartment to themselves, where they were able to wash, change and sleep. Alice, though she couldn't think of anything she wanted more than to have a shower and get out of this stupid jumpsuit, passed in favour of sitting with Artoo while the engineers retrieved the data Leia had stored inside him, as she had promised.

Together, Alice and Artoo were taken to a small, bespectacled man who was reputedly the best engineer the rebels had to offer. He seemed a little surprised to find a strange girl accompanying the little droid like a mother taking a child to the dentist, but he didn't say anything about it, instead getting straight to work.

She sat quietly, watching the engineer (who she was delighted to find out was named Bob) and listened as he explained the very complicated technical things he was doing. She didn't bother to point out that she had only just scraped a pass in GCSE Physics and let him talk; clearly he enjoyed it. It was quite soothing for her too – probably because what he was saying sounded like it should make sense, but it didn't, a bit like the time she'd accidentally bought a movie in French and had fallen asleep watching it.

As soon as they were done with Artoo however, Alice, feeling distinctly grubby and eager for a shower, allowed the huge moustachioed soldier who had come to fetch her to lead her up to her 'apartment'. She spared the time to say a brief hello to Han, who she met along the way, before flinging herself into the small bathroom of her little room and locking the door, with the intention of not emerging for several hours at least.

Now she was sitting on the tiny little camp bed in her room, and running a hand absent-mindedly through her drying hair. She had actually cheered up sufficiently from the shower that she was in a singing mood, and was humming 'Too Close' by Alex Clare to herself. That was an absolutely quality song.

She'd found new clothes laid out on her bed – there was a plain white shirt, and another jumpsuit, but it was baggier, and made of sturdier material, like canvas, and it had a zip up the front. In fact, it looked like the flight suits she had seen the rebels wearing in the hangar, only it was plain navy blue, instead of violent orange. Her boots, belt and gloves had been left for her.

Artoo whistled, and she looked up at him, smiling. "Hmm? Oh, just singing a song from back home."

A knock on the door cut Artoo off before he could ask for a full rendition, something the rest of the base was probably unknowingly grateful for. Alice hopped over to the door and pulled it open. Luke stood before her, his slightly darker than usual hair suggesting he'd been enjoying the benefits of having his own shower too.

He smiled when he saw her, and said, sounding absurdly pleased, "Hi Alice."

She blinked, but grinned, "Hi."

He blushed slightly, and said, "Listen, they're about to hold a mission briefing – they've finished analysing the plans they got from Artoo. Leia wants us both to be there."

"And Han and Chewie?"

"I think they're already down there."

"Okay," she said with a bright smile. "Hey, Artoo! Want to come to the secret war meeting?" The droid whistled, and rolled out into the corridor. "Guess that's a yes."

Luke grinned, and led the way – which was lucky because Alice didn't know where they were going. "So," Alice said, feeling tentative as she asked, "the princess seems nice, doesn't she?"

"Do you think so?" He replied, looking awfully keen, "I know Han says she's bossy, but I think-" He glanced at her, and blushed slightly, "I think she's great."

"Well, good," she said, trying to smile through a vague feeling of sickness. _What am I doing? I'll tell you what - encouraging incest is what I'm doing._ The most awkward thing was that Luke looked so _happy_.

"And...are you...I mean..." He glanced at her awkwardly, "You and Han seem pretty close."

Alice's eyebrows shot upwards, "Do we?"

"Well..." He cleared his throat, "Last night, on the _Falcon_..."

"Oh..." Alice said, blushing, "Well. That was...nope."

"No?"

"We're not...he's...um..."

"Oh."

_Awkward_.

It was almost a relief when they reached their destination: a medium-sized room that looked like the lecture halls you found in universities – except instead of being full of dozing students, this one was packed with starfighter pilots in orange flight suits. Once they arrived, Alice slipped away from Luke and went to join Han and Chewbacca in the corner, while he and Artoo sat among the ranks of pilots.

"Where have you been?" Han muttered as Alice took up a place next to him.

"Don't ask," she said, grimly.

Then the commander that Leia had hugged earlier in the hangar was talking, and Alice directed her attention to the large screen on the back wall. "The battle station is heavily shielded, and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet. Its defences are designed around a direct, large scale assault. Therefore, a small, one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defence."

A random pilot raised a hand, and said, "Pardon me for asking sir, but what use is a single fighter going to be against that?"

"Well, the Empire doesn't consider a small, one-man fighter to be a threat, or they'd have a tighter defence."

Alice snorted, "Well, that's logical."

On screen, the map shifted from showing the exterior of the Death Star, to a cross section of it. "An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia, has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station."

Alice zoned out. All this planning wasn't for her; when writing essays, it was always the part she hated most. So instead, she gazed around the room, studying the faces of the pilots. Most looked calm – but some of the younger men were twitchy. They fidgeted, glancing at the screen, then at their comrades, then down at the helmets clutched in their hands.

_Poor guys,_ she thought, sympathetically. She looked over at Leia, a young woman her own age, who appeared completely unfazed by the idea of attacking the Death Star. _I don't know how Leia does it. She's so...in control. Maybe if I'd been born in this galaxy, I'd be like that...all firing blasters and commanding armies._ She considered. _Actually...no, I'd probably still be a loser historian._

A sudden ripple passed through the room – even Han shifted beside her – and Alice glanced up to hear the man saying, "It's a small thermal exhaust port right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station." On screen, a small bleeping dot, representing the rebel missile, travelled down a long thin passage directly to the heart of the Death Star. "Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes."

Nearby, Alice heard someone mutter, "That's impossible, even for a computer."

There was a faint murmur of agreement around the area of the speaker, but the commander, not hearing, held out a hand, silencing the room, "Man your ships. And may the Force be with you."

As one, the men got to their feet, and began to file out of the room. Alice shuffled where she stood, her heart going out to the more nervous-looking men as they left.

"So the plan is that they fly up there and try and shoot a missile down a pathetically small gap to blow up the station, whilst at the mercy of the Death Star's forces?"

"More or less," Han said, shaking his head slowly.

"So basically, it's a rubbish plan."

"Well..."

"I feel so bad for them," Alice said softly, hardly aware that she had spoken aloud, until Han replied, "Don't, kid. They've chosen to do this. They're brave guys."

"I know they are. They-" Suddenly, realisation hit her. She turned slowly on the spot, looking up into Han's face. He didn't seem to want to meet her eyes, turning his gaze towards the floor. "_They're _brave guys," she said, stressing the first word. "_They _are, Han. But I guess not you, huh?"

He glared at her, "Don't give me that look. You knew I was only in this for-"

"For the reward," she finished, eyeing him narrowly, "I remember. And that's totally fine. But you get to tell Luke that you're walking out on him. I wouldn't want you to miss out. Goodbye...sir."

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!  
**


	9. And Suddenly Ice Planets

Hello, dear readers! I hope you're enjoying what Alice is getting up to - she's a silly one, it has to be said.

As always, I have some **shout-outs** this week: thanks very much to **Sev **and **Once A Blue Moon **for reviewing, and to everyone that followed/favourited - it makes me very happy that so many people like this story! :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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Leaving a grimly silent Han Solo behind her, Alice stalked out of the briefing room and into the corridor. She had no idea where she was going, so she just followed the crowd of orange-suited pilots, who were presumably all heading to the main hangar. The huge room was a bustle of activity, men walking back and forth, carrying large crates and assembling guns and so on all around her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Han saunter into the hangar, but she ignored him. There was a whistle behind her, and she turned to see Artoo approaching. "Hey, buddy," she said, patting him on the dome, "pretty intense, huh?" He bleeped softly, and she nodded, "Yeah, me too. Uh oh…"

A familiar blonde-haired figure had approached Han and Chewie. Alice paced frantically as she watched the two men talking. And it did appear to be a talk, not a shouting match. _Well, that's something_. Eventually, Luke turned away and started to walk towards where Alice stood. He had his head lowered, but she called his name, and he looked up.

"Hey."

"So, you talked to Han," she said, awkwardly.

"Yeah," he agreed, dismally, "I just…I really thought that he'd change his mind."

She winced, "I know. But, well, I expect he knows what he's doing. I'm sure everything will work out fine."

He nodded, "I just wish Ben were here."

"Me too." An awkward silence fell, and stretched uncomfortably. Alice wanted desperately to break it, Luke looked so miserable, but couldn't think of anything to say. Then, inspiration struck. Unfortunately, it struck at the same time that Luke made a move to leave, so Alice's idea to kiss him on the cheek went painfully awry as he started to move. Already halfway through the motion of stepping towards him, and with him about to step past her, panic set in. So, in one of those magical moments of bad timing, Alice simply grabbed him by the collar, dragged him towards her and kissed him full on the mouth.

Luke was quite clearly so shocked by this that he couldn't move, and Alice, equally surprised by the turn events had taken, couldn't either. So they just stood there, his face bent to hers, lips pressed unmoving together.

The sound of a loud, slightly awkward throat clearing to Alice's left (Luke's right), finally managed to unfreeze the pair of them enough for them to separate. Leia stood there, eyebrows raised so high they were practically disappearing into her hairline.

Alice started to babble at once, desperately trying to avoid Luke's bemused gaze, "Um, yes. So, good luck, Luke. May the Force be with you, and…yup. Have fun. Bye!" She started to speed walk away, paused, and called over her shoulder what she had actually wanted to say to him before the whole accidental kissing fandango. "Come back safely!" Then she ran away. _Nicely handled, Alice. Good one._

Feeling as though everyone in the entire hangar was looking at her, Alice speed-walked towards the nearest exit she could see. _No idea where I'm going..._ She'd been walking for about ten minutes when she finally decided it was safe to stop. Glancing back over her shoulder to make sure no one would come racing down the corridor and squash her, she sat down with her back to the wall, heaving a huge sigh as she did so.

The embarrassment from…the earlier incident…had faded a little, leaving Alice with only nervy anxiety. _I hope he comes back. Please don't let our last encounter be a startlingly bad kiss. He's quite nice really, despite his rather unfortunate attraction to his twin sister…I don't want him to die. Of course, he'll probably be fine. He's the big hero, remember!_

She shifted restlessly. _I wonder how close the Death Star is now. Scrap that, I wonder what it'll feel like if they fail and this whole planet is blown to smithereens. That's what I'm really interested in._

She wrapped her arms around her legs, and thought about what her family were doing now. Had she fallen into some weird coma? Were they worried about her? Or perhaps she had actually physically moved, and there was no way back. Maybe they thought she had just disappeared. _If Ben were here he'd say something sensible about there being a reason for me being here, and something perhaps a little less sensible but awfully comforting about it being the will of the Force. I miss him. And his scrubby little beard of wisdom._

"_The Force is always with you._"

Alice blinked and sat up – that had to have been her imagination. She didn't just hear Ben speak to her. What did he think she was, crazy? Doubtful, she listened carefully, but there was nothing.

She stood up suddenly. _What am I doing here? Where's Leia?_ She retraced her steps until she reached the main hangar, and from there, looked around for a clue as to where everyone else had gone. To her surprise, she saw Threepio hurrying out of a small door just ahead of her. He spotted her, and said, "Oh, Mistress Alice…"

"What is it?" Alice said at once, striding forward to join Threepio where he stood, thoughts of the fighters being blown up, or Luke dying or the Death Star approaching thrusting themselves to the front of her mind, "what's wrong?"

But before he could speak again, there was a large grinding, squeaking noise from behind them. The hangar doors were opening. Alice's heart stuttered, "They're coming back? Did they-"

Her words were drowned by the sound of everyone in the base suddenly cheering all at once, followed by the rumble of feet as soldiers began to stream from the corridor Threepio had just left. "They did it." Alice said numbly, "Oh…oh my- they actually did it!" Her paralysis broke, and she threw her arms around Threepio, "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Alice!" She saw Leia pushing her way through the throng, and the two of them hugged madly, Leia having to shout in Alice's ear to make herself heard over the cheers of the others, "Look!"

Luke's speeder was returning triumphantly to the ground, followed closely by… "But- that's the _Millennium Falcon_!" Alice squealed, pointing at it, prompting gleeful laughter from Leia, "Oh my god, he did! He _really did come back_!"

"Come on," said Leia, dragging her through the crowd towards Luke's ship. They ducked underneath the main body of the craft, bypassing the crowd of men, and threw themselves on the young blonde-haired man standing on the other side. "Luke!" He grinned at them, and Alice kissed his left cheek (no mishaps this time) and Leia kissed his right, and then they hugged and jumped up and down, nearly falling over at one point before managing to right themselves.

"Hey!" Alice spun, and let out a delighted yelp – Han was coming towards them, grinning madly. She broke away from Luke's embrace and ran to meet him, throwing herself up and into his arms. He caught her easily, and spun her around a few times before setting her back on the ground, both of them laughing like loons. "Bet that took you by surprise, eh, sweetheart?"

"You're wonderful," Alice declared, feeling ever so slightly delirious as she covered his face and hair with kisses, "absolutely wonderful."

"Alright, alright," he said with a laugh, squirming away from her like a child, "I know I'm irresistible kid, but keep a lid on it, would ya?"

Luke grinned, and pulled his friend into a rough embrace, "I knew it, I knew you'd come back!"

"Well, I couldn't let you get all the credit, not to mention the reward," Han said, pushing the boy away slightly, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Please," Alice said, throwing one arm around Han's waist and one around Leia's, who was still wrapped around Luke, "we all knew there was more to you than money, flyboy." He laughed, loudly, and the four of them hugged each other tight.

Then, over the noise of everyone cheering and laughing, Alice heard a slight groaning sound, and looked up. What she saw killed her smile instantly. She pushed Han away and ran forward – the smoking remains of Artoo were being lowered to the ground. Threepio was already beside his friend, looking as upset as it was possible for a droid to look. "Oh, Artoo," she said, brushing the fragmented metal gently.

"It's okay," Luke said, resting a hand on her shoulder, "we can repair him, can't we?"

To her delight, it was Engineer Bob from earlier who answered, "Of course we can, sir. He'll be back to normal in no time."

"You're sure?" Alice said nervously.

"If any of my circuits or components would be of any help, I'd happily donate them," Threepio said, just as anxious as Alice for their little friend.

"We'll get to work right away," Bob said.

"There, see? He'll be fine," Luke said softly to Alice, smiling the same sweet, friendly grin he'd first given her back on Tatooine. Only three or four days ago, but it felt like such a long time.

"Thank you," she said, realising how much she meant it. "Thank you, so much." She hugged him again. _Luke's so nice. And sweet. Even his haircut isn't that bad once you get used to it…_

And as soon as she thought that, it got awkward. With a cough, she broke the hug. "Phew," she said, grinning, "well done, you…pilot, you." In an attempt to seem encouraging and morale boosting, she punched him on the shoulder. In an attempt to apparently disable the boy who had just saved their lives, she punched him a little harder than necessary.

"Ow!"

"Oh god!" Caught between horror and amusement, Alice started to giggle, trying to stifle the noise by pressing her hands to her mouth, and managing to snort horrifically instead, "oh, I'm so sorry, I was…I was trying to…my bad."

Luke grinned, massaging his now injured arm, "You're crazy."

"Uh, I promise, I'll stay away from…arms in future…"

"Hey! You two! Come on, we're getting out of here!" Han winked at Alice when Luke's back was turned. She raised her eyebrows, because after all, he was still hugging Leia. He grinned cockily, and the two of them ducked under the belly of the fighter.

"Well, we'd better…um…"

"Yeah, of course." He smiled at her, and offered her the arm she had punched. She raised an eyebrow, "You sure about that?"

"Don't worry. I trust you."

_He _trusts _me. Winning._

In the aftermath of the blowing up of the Death Star, Han and Luke were given medals. Alice was given a dress, and got to stand with Threepio and the repaired Artoo while they were publically awarded their medals by the princess. She felt quite proud as the two men stepped up to have the medals put around their necks by Leia, even more so when the assembled soldiers started to clap and cheer.

But the day after that, it was straight back to business. The rebels were evacuating and spreading out to various different bases throughout the galaxy – Alice and friends were heading for Hoth, an (direct quote from Leia) 'ice planet'.

Alice frowned, "When you say ice planet…just how cold is it going to be?"

Leia didn't smile (she hardly ever did when she was in princess mode), but Alice sensed that she understood and shared her hatred of cold places. "It will be much colder than our current-"

"It'll be an ice-cube," Han interrupted, "let's not twist facts here, princess." He pointed at Alice, who had ditched the dress offered her by Leia in favour of her navy flight suit, "You're gonna need to dress up warmer than that, kid."

"Alright, mum," she said, raising her eyebrows, "calm down. I notice you're not telling Leia she needs to dress more appropriately."

He raised his eyebrows at her, "I wouldn't dare tell Her Highness-ness over here that she should do _anything_."

Leia glared at him, and Alice had to stifle a smile. It was obvious that Han was deliberately trying to wind the princess up; this was about the fifteenth time today he'd made a "witty" comment. She took this to mean that Han was succumbing to his thus-far unspoken attraction to Leia, in the style of ten year old boys who pick on the girls they fancy.

"Yes, thank you, Captain Solo," Leia said, in a tone that Alice could only describe as 'frosty'. _Frosty! Ahh, I'm so hilarious._ She wanted to laugh, butgiven no one else had heard her fabulous joke, it would probably just earn her more odd looks.

With this in mind, she tried to keep her face as stoical as possible. _Please, I don't have to try. I'm amazing at this. In fact, I'm so stoical, I'm practically freaking Seneca._

The princess turned to Alice and said, "I would be perfectly happy to lend you garments from my own wardrobe – I am prepared for all climates." Her utter seriousness intensified Alice's need to laugh. _Be strong, Alice!_ She took a deep breath and sounding slightly more nasal than usual, said, "I am glad to hear it, princess."

"Watch out, kid," Han muttered, "you're going to end up looking like a wampa." It was too much. The giggles overpowered her, and funnelling the laughter away from a huge explosive bray, she snorted stupidly instead, "A wampa? What the hell is a wampa?"

"Um…kid, you okay?"

"Fine," Alice wheezed, rubbing her poor nose which hurt from snorting so loudly, "absolutely fine." She waved a hand at Leia, "Go ahead."

"Yes…" Leia said, looking confused, "Alice, you and I will go directly to Hoth to manage the set-up of the new base. Luke, you will be part of a detachment of fighter pilots who will accompany the larger ships to Hoth, and Han, we need the _Falcon_ to transport weapons and troops."

The smuggler narrowed his eyes, "Fine. But you just tell your toy soldiers to be careful when they're loading the old girl. She needs some serious repair work."

"I'm sure you can repair her once we reach Hoth," Leia said briskly, "now, if you will come with me, Alice, we'll depart." She nodded to the two men, "Good luck. Hopefully, we will meet again soon."

Swallowing the last of her giggles, Alice waved at them cheerfully, "Well, bye then, guys. Catch ya later!"

"Take care of yourself, kid," Han replied. Luke raised a hand, "See you soon."

With one last glance at the two, she left with Leia. As they walked – or rather, as Leia walked and Alice jogged to keep up – she realised that she knew almost nothing about the princess, apart from that she was a princess.

"So…"

"Yes?"

_Oh, gosh, she's really…she's actually really scary. Perhaps I'll save question time until she's feeling a bit more…relaxed…_

"Oh, nothing."

Leia glanced at her, but kept walking. "Where are you from, Alice?"

She blinked, startled, and suddenly had to remember the name she'd told Luke… "Gallifrey. It's in the…Outer Rim. Very far out. It's a bit dull, honestly, we don't get many outsiders coming in."

The princess eyed her narrowly, "I see."

"Yeah…good old Gallifrey. How about you?"

"I was born on Alderaan."

Alice sobered up at once, "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Leia said after a moment, "there was nothing I could have done to change its fate, without giving up my belief in freedom for this galaxy. And that is something I will never do."

Alice hesitated, and wishing she was better at giving encouraging speeches, said, "I…eh…I know that being strong for everyone is important to you…but if you ever want to talk, about anything – commanding armies, destroying battle stations, misbehaving smugglers and so on…I'm always here. Well, unless I die."

Leia stared at her suspiciously, as if trying to tell if the offer was genuine. Alice smiled tentatively, hoping this would be sufficient. It seemed it was. "Thank you, Alice. You're very kind. If I'm honest, I'm very glad to have another woman around. Perhaps the thing I regret most about the choices I've made is that I'm almost constantly in the company of men."

Alice grinned mischievously, "But…would you say that's a _bad _thing?" She expected Leia to be at least a little scandalised, but to her surprise, the princess gave her a smile as cheeky as her own, "Well. It could be worse."

Alice laughed, and reflected that maybe Her Royal Highness Princess Leia Organa wasn't so bad after all. She just needed to relax a little.

They reached the hangar, and one of the commanders, a general, approached them. Instantly, Leia's smile dropped, and she was a princess once more. "Is my ship ready for departure, General?"

"Yes, Your Highness. A convoy of five fighters is waiting to accompany you-"

"Save the fighters for the ships carrying the majority of the troops and the heavy artillery," Leia said, interrupting him with a wave of her fingers, "I need only two to protect me – more will only attract attention." Alice glanced over her shoulder briefly and had to repress a slightly wistful sigh at the sight of the _Millennium Falcon_ sitting across the room.

"Your Highness, I do not think two will be sufficient protection."

"Of course they will," Leia disagreed, walking smartly up the boarding ramp with Alice and the soldier in tow, "unless my pilot is planning on taking me on a scenic tour of the galaxy, we should arrive on Hoth within fifteen parsecs."

"Very well. Have a safe journey, Princess. Miss Miller." With a salute, he left the ship, and called for the hangar doors to be opened. As the ramp began to lift up into the side of the ship in preparation for flight, Alice just caught a glimpse of Han, Luke and Chewbacca on the opposite side of the hangar. Then the door locked with a hiss, and she took a seat in the extremely comfortable cabin, preparing to wait out however long fifteen parsecs was.

Roughly three parsecs later, and Alice and Leia had struck up an interesting conversation about their childhoods. Well, more precisely, Alice talked about her childhood, while Leia recollected events from earlier in her life, which wasn't exactly the same as being a child.

"Genuinely, I am in awe of you," Alice said, shaking her head slightly, "I just can't believe that you've done so much. You've been alive for the same amount of time as I have, and you're leading an entire freaking rebellion! The most impressive thing I've ever led was the school gym team."

"Gym?"

"Gymnastics," Alice explained, "it's a sport…you didn't have gymnastics on Alderaan?"

"No, I don't believe so. We didn't have 'sports' so much as a fitness regime that was mandatory for both children and adults."

"Oh…well, I really liked gymnastics. It was the only extra-curricular activity I kept up at school." She paused, and reflected, "I think that everyone was pretty surprised that I was actually good at it. Actually, so was I. It requires grace, balance, strength and discipline. So honestly, no idea how I was ever elected captain."

"And what exactly did you do for these…gymnastics?" Leia asked curiously.

"Well, it's...there are a number of different events, but the one I specialised in was floor, where basically, you come up with a routine of dance movements, jumps and flips – we call them tumbles – set to music, and perform it to a panel of judges."

Leia said, "It sounds lovely," but Alice got the impression that Princess Leia didn't see the point in any kind of activity that wouldn't better the lives of the citizens of the galaxy. Which, given that she lived in a galaxy-wide dictatorship, was fair enough.

"Your Majesty?" An impeccably dressed soldier entered the cabin and saluted smartly, "We are coming up on Hoth. The captain suggests the two of you change into attire more suitable for the planet's climate."

"Thank you," Leia said, inclining her head graciously. He saluted again, and left.

"So now we get to pick out some awesome new clothes, right?" Alice asked, grinning. Leia nodded. "Sweet…"

Alice grinned to herself as she examined Leia's truly extraordinary wardrobe. She had everything from dresses to robes to cardigans to shawls; trousers and blouses, long sleeved shirts and short sleeved shirts, coats and jackets and boots of varying lengths. "I wish I was a princess," she said, as she gazed longingly at a beautiful peacock blue gown made of a shimmery, silky material.

Leia, holding up a pair of plain white trousers, gave a sarcastic laugh. Alice glanced at her as she replaced the dress and took a pair of thick white leggings that were more or less trousers in their own right, "Don't you like being a princess?"

"No, I do. My position allows me so much influence in the political affairs of the galaxy, much more than most people…it's just that, being a princess isn't like what everyone expects it to be like."

"How do you mean?" Alice asked, pulling on the trousers. They clung to her skin and seemed to generate their own heat, so that in under two minutes, she was boiling. _Wonder what this stuff's made of…_

"Well, I never really saw my parents when I was growing up. They were always away on some tour of a far-off country, and I had to stay at home to complete my studies. I went to school with other children, but I never really had that many friends."

Alice paused in the act of pulling on a long-sleeved white shirt, and winced, "That must have sucked."

"At the time I was so caught up in my father's vision of restoring the Republic that I hardly noticed. It's only now my planet is gone, that I realise how much I missed out on as a child."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Alice said, "I had an imaginary friend until I was eight, and up until he disappeared, I didn't really chat with many kids my age either. My parents were probably on the verge of giving me up for psychiatric care when Mr Bulgy and I had a fight. He stopped turning up after that."

"Mr Bulgy?" Leia repeated, raising her eyebrows. Alice stared seriously back, "Hey. Don't judge Mr Bulgy."

"Sure…are you ready?"

"Yup, think so." As well as the trousers and shirt, she'd picked up a thin knitted jumper and over that a beautiful fawn-coloured coat lined with a fluffy material that resembled wool. It had no hood, but she thought that with the furry collar turned up and wearing a close knitted hat she'd found, she'd probably be adequately shielded from the cold. She had changed the boots from her jumpsuit for some fur-lined ones which she wore over some thick socks.

Looking at herself in the mirror, a memory suddenly popped up out of nowhere. _This looks like the coat the bad guy from the Batman film that came out a couple of years ago had…what was his name? Crane? Flame? Oh…I don't know, the incomprehensible one with the mask on his face. See, this is why Emi should have been dropped into El Galaxy de los Spaceships, not me. She'd be educating them about modern cinematography, while I'm…stumbling around and accidentally kissing people.  
_

"Your Majesty, we have just landed."

"Perfect." Leia raised her eyebrows at Alice, "Shall we?"

"Let's," Alice said, secretly wishing that she didn't have to leave the nice warm ship. _No pain, no gain, Alice. Man the hell up._

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**Thanks for reading and please review!**_  
_


	10. Lots of Stuff is Going On

Well, it's back to school for me, chums, but not to worry, updates will continue every Sunday, unless I'm really busy revising for something. :)

This week I am truly over the moon to say that I have loads of **shout-outs: ****Nanobot5770**, **SerenityMoonPrincess**, **Nyce**, **ilov****eashandquinn**, **d****jgirl911**, **Lywick**,** Taboo22 **and **Katyperry22** - that's eight reviews for one chapter! :D You guys are the best! Anyway, hope you enjoy this week's chapter - enough for it to get nine reviews? Pretty please?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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Hoth turned out to be just as cold as Han had promised. Alice was tremendously grateful for her warm clothes even in the hangar, where icy winds blasted their way through the tiniest cracks in the walls and doors. From what she could see, this rebel base aircraft hangar was much the same as the one they'd just left, apart from the slick layer of ice that coated the walls.

"I'm surprised we even managed to get the ship down without the engines freezing," Alice said to Leia, pointing out the layer of frost that was already forming on the hull of the ship. "God, I hate the cold. Give me a nice beach any day."

"I know exactly what you mean, miss."

"Engineer Bob!" Alice exclaimed cheerfully, giving the old engineer an unexpected hug, "How are you?"

"Alice, forgive me, we should go and meet with the General…"

"Oh, yeah, of course. I'll catch you later, Bob."

Straightening his hat (which had come askew in the suddenness of the hug), he gave her a wave, "See you around, miss!"

"So," Alice said, turning back to Leia, "now that we're here, what exactly is the Rebel Alliance up to? I mean, we already blew up the Death Star…what's next on the list?"

"Well," Leia said, with a small sigh, "our top priority is getting all of our troops off Yavin and safely here. Then…well. I fear we may have misled you if you think we're blowing up major Imperial weapons every other day. Mostly it's little things: intercepting communications, sabotaging vessels, stealing supplies and so on."

"Riiight…you know, it's quite comforting to hear that, actually."

"Really? How so?"

"Well, stuff like that sounds a lot more manageable than, 'Day after tomorrow, direct assault on the Emperor, nine o'clock'."

Leia laughed, "I don't think we're quite there yet."

"I'm sure you will be," Alice said cheerily, "I mean, how long a gap can there be between movies anyway?"

"…What?"

"Princess Leia!" They glanced up to see a fatherly looking man in a puffy jacket walking towards them.

"General Rieekan," Leia said, going directly into princess mode, "it's good to see you."

"Good to see you too, your highness. And your companion…?"

"Miss Alice Miller. She's a friend."

"Hello. Alice Miller. Friend."

"Ah," he said, giving Alice a warm smile and a handshake, "welcome to Hoth, Miss Miller. Your chambers have already been prepared, your highness. I can, of course arrange some for Miss Miller as well."

"Thank you, General. That would be ideal."

"Thanks," Alice piped up, gratefully.

"Not at all. But I'm glad you've arrived, we have a lot to discuss…"

"General, perhaps Alice might be given a tour of the base while we talk?" She turned to Alice with a small smile, "Something to keep you occupied."

"Ooh," Alice said cheerfully, "that sounds good."

"Of course," Rieekan said, beckoning a young woman in a fluffy coat over, "Private Falern, would you give Miss Miller a brief tour of the base? Your shift is over, I assume?"

"Yes sir." _OMG,_ Alice thought, stunned, _another girl!_

"Very good. Miss Miller, I hope to see you again soon."

"Bye!" He nodded politely, and Leia waved as they rounded a corner and disappeared.

Alice turned to her new companion and found a pretty blonde-haired woman smiling at her, "Hi. I'm Lana."

"Oh," Alice said, brightly, "hi! I'm Alice. I can't tell you how nice it is to see another woman! I honestly thought Leia and I were about the only two in this entire galaxy."

The woman, Lana, laughed, "Not quite. Right, shall we get started with the tour? What do you want to see?"

"Well…I've been to the main hangar, and I've been here. And that's about it. So…everywhere you think will be useful. You guys have a dining room-type thing, right?"

"Of course," Lana said, smiling, "this way."

Lana, it turned out, was quite the chatterbox. She took Alice to all the major locations around the base: canteen, main hangar, main control room, and living quarters. As she guided her around, she told her all about herself; her home planet, her family, and her work in the rebellion as a technician, monitoring communications between all the rebel ships within range.

"That's pretty cool," Alice said, smiling, "I don't really do much, as you can probably tell. Being new to the whole rebellion thing…"

"Oh, yeah," Lana said, her eyes lighting up, "now I remember you. You're that friend of Commander Skywalker's! I thought you looked familiar."

Alice blinked, "Luke's a commander now?"

"Oh yeah," said her companion, raising her eyebrows, "blowing up the Death Star, fast track to promotion I guess. Well, anyway, here we are, back to the main hangar. Do you need anything else before I go?"

"Nope," Alice said, catching a tell-tale glimpse of blue engineer suit from across the hangar, "I'm good. See you around, Lana!"

"Bye, Alice."

As Lana moved away, Alice skipped off towards the wrinkly little figure of Engineer Bob, "Hey, old chum! Told you I'd come back. Whatcha doing?"

"Hello, miss. I'm trying to fix the heating in this hangar so we can start defrosting the ships. The speeders that came in a couple of days ago with the first of us are already useless, and I expect her highness's ship will be likewise inoperable in a matter of hours."

"Oh…d'you need some help? I mean, I can't actually fix things, but I can carry tools and stuff."

"Don't put yourself down, miss," Bob said, apparently not recognising Alice as the technology repelling creature she was.

"I'm serious. But honestly, I'd be happy to help. I feel pretty useless most of the time around here, so…"

"Well then of course miss, and thank you. If you could please fetch a laser soldering gun from my toolbox over there…"

_Teehee…toolbox._ "No problem."

This more or less set the tone for the rest of Alice's afternoon – Bob described things for her and she hurried off to get them, some times more successfully than others.

As evening began to set in however, Alice decided it was getting pretty cold in the hangar, and waving Bob a cheerful goodbye, set off to try and find the main control room and Leia. _Right, mustn't let Lana down. She was very specific with her directions…hope I can remember where I'm going…_

She couldn't. Not too long after starting out, Alice found herself in a completely unfamiliar stretch of corridor – even worse, she couldn't spot anyone to ask for directions. _…Oh yay. This is like my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition all over again. Well, at least it's not raining._

She wandered on a bit further, and was just about to turn a corner when she heard an odd sound halfway between a baa and a quack. _What the…?_

She retraced her steps, following the source of the noise until she found a doorway into a large, brightly lit room full of…creatures. Whatever they were, they were odd looking things, a weird fusion of camel, dinosaur and giraffe with thick, coarse fur, tiny little t-rex arms and long necks. The one that stood closest to Alice was being brushed by a young woman with dark brown hair, and as she rubbed down its neck, it let out that odd honking, quacking noise again.

_Er…has someone been running some really twisted experiments?_

A young soldier turned round suddenly, caught her staring and asked, "Can I help you?"

"What are these…things?"

He grinned, "They're called tauntauns – they're indigenous to the planet."

"They stink," Alice commented, cupping her hand over her mouth.

"That's true," he said, "but since our speeders aren't working, we're using them to run patrols outside. They move well on the snow and can withstand cold temperatures long enough for us to get our job done."

"I see," she said, and was about to leave, when suddenly, the man peered at her, and said, "You're that friend of Luke Skywalker, the guy that blew up the Death Star, right?"

"Um, yeah," she said, slightly put out that it seemed everyone knew her simply from her connection to Luke, "Alice Miller, good to meet you."

"Well, next time you see Commander Skywalker, could you just tell him that all of us are really grateful to him? He saved all of our lives back there on Yavin."

Alice saw he was sincere, and softened towards him slightly. "Sure. Of course, I'll tell him. First chance I get. Hey, listen, what's your name?"

"I'm Tal."

"Good to meet you, Tal," she said, smiling, "have fun with your…tomtoms…"

"Tauntauns," he corrected, smiling.

"Tauntauns," she repeated, "got it."

Alice left the room and started to walk, only realising when she was halfway down the corridor that she still had no idea where she was going. _Good one Alice, forgetting to ask for directions…_

"Alice!"

She blinked, and grinned, "Leia! Your timing is perfect, mon petit choufleur!"

"...What?"

Alice frowned, "I think I just called you my little cauliflower. Funny what you remember, isn't it. I came to ask you, do you know where my bedroom is?"

"Oh, yes, of course. I'll take you there. Come on."

They started to walk, Alice skipping every other step to keep herself warm.

"Alice, how would you feel about doing more around here?"

She tilted her head, "What kind of more?"

"Just…general odd jobs, carrying, fetching and so on."

"Oh…sure. Yeah, I'd love to."

"Really?"

Alice blinked, slightly concerned by the expression of manic glee on Leia's face, and wondering just what she'd let herself in for.

"…Yes…?"

"Perfect," Leia said, sounding satisfied. She led them round a corner and stopped by a door that was encouragingly free of ice, "This is your room."

"Thanks, Leia."

"I'm really grateful that you want to help us," Leia enthused, her eyes sparkling in a way that Alice hadn't seen them sparkle before, "You don't mind starting first thing in the morning, do you?"

"Um...no. Of course not."

"Good." With one last brilliant smile, the princess departed, leaving an uneasy Alice behind her.

BREAK

The next day, Alice was abruptly awoken by a very loud banging on her door. With a groan of protest, she lifted her head from her warm pillow and shouted, "Who is it?"

She got no reply; but after a slight pause, the knocking started again. _...Why?_ Feeling rather grumpier than usual, Alice got slowly (very slowly) to her feet, yawned hugely, staggered over to the door and slammed the opening switch. The door slid smoothly back to reveal a short man with a bristly moustache and some rather excellent sideburns. _...What?!_

"Alice Miller?" His voice was sharp and _very _loud - far too loud, in Alice's opinion, for this early in the morning.

She stared at him, apprehensive. "Yes…?"

"Princess Leia has instructed me to oversee your training. I am Captain Starn. Hmm…a little small, but you look healthy enough."

"Um…thank you? Wait, what? What training?"

He frowned at her as if she were being deliberately dense. "Weapons and hand-to-hand combat training. Compulsory for all members of the Rebel Alliance."

"What? I thought-"

"Hurry up! Get dressed."

"…But-"

"Now, soldier!"

"Fine!"

_What is happening?!_

Utterly bewildered, Alice threw on her clothes as quickly as she could and went to the door to find Starn still standing there, looking as though he hadn't moved a muscle in all the time that she'd been getting ready.

"Uh…"

"Follow me," he said, cutting her off before she could even begin to formulate a question. _What?!_ Still, what with being completely clueless as to what was actually happening, all she could do was to follow Captain Starn, power-walking to keep up with his extremely quick marching. He led her across the entire base, including through what looked like a changing room packed with rebel soldiers, who all stared at her as she passed. She felt heat building in her cheeks, and kept her eyes firmly on the floor. _Leia, I'm going to kill you…_

Suddenly, Captain Bristly came to an abrupt halt, so abrupt, in fact, that she slammed into his back. It was quite muscly, so she sort of bounced back off again and tried to look innocent when he spun to face her. "We'll start with the basic physical checks."

Alice hadn't thought that a base that had been put together in a matter of days, by a tiny group of rebels, on an _ice planet_ would have had a training room. Turned out it did. A very mean training room with an assault course, and sciencey treadmills and even a virtual shooting range. And Starn insisted on putting Alice through every single activity, just to make sure she was physically eligible to be a member of the rebel army.

By the end of the day, she felt like she'd run a marathon. Wearing steel toe-capped boots. And carrying a twenty kilo rucksack. In thirty degree heat. Blindfolded.

"Can we stop now?" She panted, feeling a slight and vaguely worrying trembling throughout all her muscles, that probably meant she was about to collapse.

He stared at her disapprovingly, as if he expected her to be able to exercise twice as much and still be able to actually walk back to her room.

"We're done for today," he said, "tomorrow, we'll start on the weapons training." Alice perked up a little, "So not too much exercise, yeah?"

He shook his head despairingly, "0800 hours, Miss Miller. Right here."

"Aye aye, Captain," she said, raising a slightly wobbly arm in a salute. He twitched his moustache and strode away. _Right._

Wheeling around, Alice limped her way through the base to the main control room, where she found Leia and several important people talking about important things. She lurked in the corner, eyeing the princess mutinously until finally, she turned away from her conversation to see Alice glaring at her.

"Alice. How are you?"

"I've been better. I had some training today." She narrowed her eyes, but tried to avoid doing anything else. Everywhere hurt when she moved.

"Ah." Leia took this information, pieced it together with the murderous look in Alice's eyes, and wisely took a step back, "And how was it?"

"It was tiring," she said, "but more importantly, I believe it was your idea?"

"I thought it would be good for you to know how to defend yourself. We're safe here for a little while, but we don't know when we'll be forced to leave. You should be ready."

Alice hmphed. She could see the sense in Leia's words, but didn't want to admit it. "Alright. But don't expect me to forgive you until after my body stops hurting." Leia smiled slightly, "Very well. Now, perhaps you would like to retire to your rooms? Your clothes are a bit…damp."

Almost beyond caring, Alice glanced down at her rather sweaty clothes. "Fine. I'll see you in the morning. _Some_ of us have an early start." She tried one more time to evil Leia, but the princess had already turned away, and thus escaped the death glare. _Traitor…_

The next morning, Alice woke up in even more pain than she'd been in the day before; all the aches and bruises from yesterday had apparently doubled in severity over night, and she was incredibly stiff. _Kill me now._ She got to her feet with a groan, and very slowly made her way through the base to the canteen, then to the training room, where, as promised, Captain Starn was waiting for her.

"Today, Miss Miller," he said, at a volume she thought was inappropriately loud for eight o'clock in the morning, "we will be teaching you to use a firearm."

"Right," she said, trying for enthusiasm, "great. Super. Swell. Awesome. Amaz-"

"That's enough."

"Sorry."

"This is the standard issue blaster we give to our troops." He held out a large, rifle-esque gun, which looked really rather heavy. Alice bit her lip, "Um…I don't think…"

He raised an eyebrow, "No. Neither do I. This is the weapon you will be using." From a rack littered with similar weapons, he plucked a smaller blaster, more the size of a handgun. He displayed it to her, but when she reached out to take it, he snatched it away.

"Oh, no, not yet, Miller. Right. Here's the handle. Here's the trigger. Here's the safety catch. Even when the safety is on, you never point the weapon at someone outside of a battle environment. Do not drop it, keep it aimed at the floor while carrying it outside of a holster, and always keep your finger away from the trigger until the last possible moment. Got that?"

Alice tilted her head on one side. "So…it's a bit like carrying scissors?"

"…What?"

"You know…always cover the blades with your hand, point it at the floor, don't run with them…no?"

"No." Looking as though he would probably regret his decision, he held the blaster out towards her, handle-first.

Alice took it gingerly with two fingers, trying to touch as little of it as possible. True, she'd used the blaster Han had given her on board the Death Star, but only the sort of...clubbing end. And as much as she resented Starn for his ruthless 'testing' the day before, she really didn't want to accidentally shoot him.

Starn gave an exasperated huff, and wrapped her fingers roughly around the handle of the gun, repositioning her grip. "Put your thumb here. No, not there, _here_. You'll drop it at the first sign of trouble if you hold it like that. And what did I say about keeping your hands _away_ from the trigger?"

Eventually, he was satisfied with how she was holding it, and got around to actually teaching her how to fire it and hit what she was aiming for. Unlike the policemen in the few action films Alice had seen (one of which was Edgar Wright's _Hot Fuzz_, which she didn't think really counted), Starn didn't seem to go for the 'balance the gun on one hand, hold it with the other and aim carefully' style. His was more the 'hang on with both hands and keep on blasting until you hit your target' approach. Or perhaps he had simply resorted to that method after Alice succeeded in shooting so wildly that the shots didn't even register on the simulator.

"Argh!" Alice complained, pulling off the simulation goggles, and chucking them dispiritedly to the floor, "It's so difficult! I'll never be able to hit anything, unless it's an accident."

"Agreed," Starn said, sounding, for once, more weary than she was, "perhaps it's time we take a break. You have twenty-five minutes to eat, then I want you straight back here. Understood?"

"Uh…yes?"

He sighed, and departed, shaking his head.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, and please (please please) review!**


	11. Cue the Training Montage

Hellooo, dear readers. Lots and lots of snow here in England - my friend and I made a snow-frog. Any other English readers made an interesting snowman? Animals, igloos, daleks...? Feel free to share, there may be cookies for the best ones. ;)

This week's **shout-outs** go to: **Nanobot5770**, **iloveashandquinn**, **Lywick**, **Sev**, **Taboo22** and **Rday**. Thanks for the reviews, guys, and to anyone else that followed/favourited - it's much appreciated.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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**_Super quick recap: Alice and Leia went to Hoth and now Alice is learning to be a ninja - fun with weaponry, whoop whoop!  
_**

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Alice limped her way to the canteen where she helped herself to a tray of unidentifiable but yummy-smelling space food. She turned around, tray in hands, and was immediately struck by the age-old school-time fear…where should she sit?

There was a large table full of men directly ahead of her who were all laughing loudly, elbowing each other and generally being blokes. Eh…bad idea. Where else…a group of technicians, working studiously away. _Awkward…_ Um…there was a bunch of normal looking people chatting normally with each other to her right, perhaps they were her best bet… "Hey, Alice!"

She jerked her head up in surprise, and saw Lana, the technician who had shown her around, waving enthusiastically at her from a table sparsely populated by two other women. _Wow! Real girls! I mean, not that Leia isn't a real girl, but she's not a proper person…okay, look, I didn't mean that either. Stop questioning me!_

"Hey," she said brightly as she reached them. Lana looked delighted, and waved at her to sit down, "Hi Alice. Guys, this is Alice Miller. She's the one who's friends with Skywalker and Solo, remember? Alice, this is Clementine-" The one to her right, a slender woman with strawberry blonde hair scraped up into a bun nodded politely enough at Alice, "and this is Aleya." The second one, pretty with dark hair, Alice had a vague idea she recognised, "You work in the tauntaun stables, don't you?"

"Yes," the woman replied shyly, "I saw you there, talking to Private Tal." _Am I wrong, or did I hear a definite note of longing in that statement?_

"Yeah," Alice said lazily, "he's really nice. Do you talk to him often?"

Instantly, Aleya turned bright red, "No, not really."

"Maybe you should," Alice suggested gently.

"So, Alice, what have you been up to?" Something about the slightly scary smile she was giving her gave Alice the sense that there was more than a touch of her friend Emi around Lana. (For those not acquainted with said friend, a brief description would be: stark raving mad.)

"Well," Alice said, delighted to have the chance to properly talk (complain) to someone, "Leia's got me into basic training, so I've more or less just been in the gym, being hurt and humiliated."

"I remember basic training," Lana said with a fond smile, "worst two weeks of my life."

"It goes on for two weeks?" Alice said, aghast, "I don't think my muscles can take it."

"You'll get used to it," Clementine said, her tone slightly condescending, which Alice was willing to let slide.

"Who have you got supervising you?"

"Captain Starn. I think he's starting to realise just what he's let himself in for, taking me on though. Bless. He's such a numpty."

"A numpty?" Aleya repeated curiously, "What does that mean?"

"…Er…" _This might be harder than I thought._

Pleased with her socialising efforts that lunch, Alice returned to the training room refreshed and raring to go. Well, not really, but if I could ask you to stretch your imaginations momentarily…

"Right!" Starn snapped, bringing her back down to earth (or rather, Hoth) with a bump, "Following our efforts to train you in the use of firearms this morning-" Alice coughed, embarrassed, "we are now going to move on to covering basic combat."

"Ooh!" To her own surprise, despite her aching muscles, Alice perked up a bit here, "Exciting!" Her trainer seemed to find her enthusiasm for this area more frightening than encouraging, and called in another beefy, buff officer (also with sideburns – no moustache though) to assist him. "I'm going to pass you over to Lieutenant Grant for this aspect of your training."

Grant stepped forward, and Alice started, open-mouthed at the way his chest muscles rippled when he shifted his arms. "Right. The first thing we should see," he said, in a deep rumbly voice, "is if you can make a fist properly."

Tentatively, Alice held up her hand, and curled her fingers into a fist, instinctively tucking her thumb underneath her fingers. He shook his head slowly, and reaching out, moved her fingers, "Keep your thumb on the side of your hand. Otherwise it might break when your punch connects."

"Right." _Mental note._

And so it went on, day in, day out. At this point, we would normally have a montage of some description, if we had any means of visually conveying this story to you. Buuuut, we don't so you're just going to have to imagine the amount of pain Alice put in just to make a tiny bit of improvement. She focused on general fitness and combat training interspersed with practice on the shooting range. Shooting range practice went like this generally: "Left. Left. LEFT!"

"I'm sorry, maybe you should stop shouting at me!"

"You're aiming at the _wrong _target, Miller, what am I supposed to do, let you merrily continue?"

"It's better than yelling at me – look, I jumped so much that the shot went _up_!"

"Again!"

And so on. Combat training was a little more successful, probably because Lieutenant Grant (first name: Dylan) went for the cautious approach, and for the first couple of days wouldn't actually let her physically punch anything. He said she'd probably fall over if she tried. Alice had to agree. By the sixth day however, he'd allowed her to progress to hitting a dummy, and when she'd completed the two weeks of her official basic training, the two of them were actually beginning to spar together.

They stood opposite each other on a padded floor, hands wrapped in bandages to protect their knuckles. Alice bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, keeping her eyes firmly trained on her opponent, repeating in her head a steady mantra of. _Focus, focus, focus._ Taking a series of short, shallow breaths, she lunged forward with a yell, powering her fist towards Dylan's stomach. He thrust her arm aside, and returned with a blow for her face. _Crapbuggerdamnation-_

With a little scream, she dropped to the floor, holding her hands over her head.

She heard a loud sigh, and looked up to see Starn looking down at her in exasperation, "Miss Miller. How many times must I say this. When someone goes to hit you, you cannot simply roll into a ball on the floor and expect them to leave you alone. You have to _retaliate_. That's the whole point of fighting!"

"I know," Alice said, tentatively uncurling slightly from her foetal position, "but Dylan's really big. Couldn't you find someone…a bit less intimidating?"

Starn shook his head, and ignoring her question, he and Dylan wandered away, probably to go and mutter about how rubbish she was. Alice sat up with a sigh, plucking at the neck of the plain white t-shirt she was wearing. She stared across the training room unhappily. _I'm never going to be good at this. And let's be honest, no one is ever going to let me get into a fight situation, because they _know _I'm never going to be good at this._

"Alice Miller?"

She looked up to see Clementine, the fierce-looking woman from the canteen standing above her. She was wearing a similar set of clothes to Alice – white t-shirt, loose fitting track-suit bottoms tucked into thick socks – but on her, they looked neat and professional. Alice, sitting sprawled on the floor with her hair tied up in a messy bun on the top of her head, was pretty sure she didn't look that good.

"Hello, Clementine," Alice said, uncertain if this was a social visit or something more official.

"Still completing basic training?"

Alice sighed, "Yeah."

"How are you getting on?"

"It's dismal, if I'm honest."

Clementine tipped her head on one side, and glanced over at Starn and Dylan, still deep in conversation on the other side of the room, "Perhaps I can be of assistance."

"Um…okay?" Clementine gave her a tight-lipped smile, and marched off to join the two men. _Huh. What's that all about?_ Getting to her feet, Alice stretched, easing out her aching muscles; first her arms, then her legs. Finally, she took a deep breath, then bent neatly at the waist and touched her toes, relishing the pull through her hamstrings.

"Miss Miller?" She straightened up to see Starn heading back towards her, Clementine at his elbow. He looked grumpy, but at the same time pleased. _How does that work?_ "Lieutenant Threpe has kindly offered to assist Lieutenant Grant by being your sparring partner."

"Really?" Alice said, perking up at once, "Great! Thanks, Clementine! I mean," she shot a slightly guilty glance at Dylan, "You're great, Dylan, dear, but…um…"

"I understand," he said, raising a hand, "anything that will help you to make progress."

And with Clementine's help, Alice did make progress. Of a sort. It would be fantastic if the author could tell you that within a week Alice was kicking hordes of armed ninjas in the arse with ease. Unfortunately, it would also not be accurate. Alice's greatest achievement was probably once, just once managing to knock Clementine over – the victory was short-lived, when the soldier had simply reached out and tugged Alice's legs out from under her a moment later.

It was while she was working with Clementine that Alice seemed to suddenly gain an audience. She hadn't really noticed it at first, but it seemed that in the week that had passed since Clementine had volunteered to start training her, whenever the rebels had a spare moment, they quite enjoyed coming over to the training room and watching Alice either fail to hit anything with her blaster or fall over in combat training. Today they were out in full force – about twenty men in flight suits, laughing, joking and waiting eagerly for the fun to begin.

"Sadists," Alice muttered, wrapping bandages round her hands.

Starn chuckled, "They enjoy the show. You should give them one."

"What?"

"You've been working on adapting your technique to play to your strengths. So show off a little."

Alice stared at him, "That would be the most genius and amazing thing I've ever heard – if not for the fact that I'm chronically rubbish when it comes to fighting."

"Don't be so sure," he said, with a weird little smile like a creepy sloth with a bristly moustache.

"Right, okay." _Crazy. Absolutely bonkers._

Shaking her head, she strode on to the mat to face Clementine, and was surprised by the sudden wave of cheering this produced. _Maybe Starn's right…_

Clementine, Alice had discovered, was a demon in hand-to-hand combat. She was faster than a cheetah on steroids, and not at all averse to giving Alice the odd bruise. She gulped. _Come on Alice. Channel your inner ninja. You can do this._

"Ready?" Clementine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ready."

Almost before the word was out of her mouth, Clementine lunged towards her, right fist sailing through the air towards her head. Alice ducked and backpedalled frantically, trying to keep her eyes fixed on Clementine and not fall over at the same time, which was harder than it sounded.

Clementine advanced, her hands held ready in front of her, her eyes tracking Alice's every move. _Gosh, she is _scary _sometimes…_

Feeling Starn's glowering gaze burning into her back, Alice feinted left, then dodged right and grabbed Clementine by the shoulder, simultaneously trying to sweep her feet out from under her. This was the move that she had used on that one shining occasion that she'd managed to bring Clementine down – and unsurprisingly, it didn't work a second time.

Clementine simply planted her feet, snatched Alice's wrist and twisted it painfully. Alice squeaked, and tugged her hand away, tripping backwards to try and put distance between herself and her attacker…and then her heel caught on the corner of one of the mats, and she went tumbling backwards into the cushioned floor, knocking the breath out of her and leaving her winded.

"…Eh."

It was the only sound she could get out. From above her, she heard cheers from her fan-club, mingled with laughter. _Well, at least I'm good for something._

Groaning, Alice heaved herself upright, massaging her slightly sore wrist. Clementine came over to her, actually smiling, "Well done. That was much better."

"Was it?" Alice raised an eyebrow, "You wouldn't see Sherlock Holmes as portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. tripping over in the middle of a fight scene, would you. Damn it…"

"You're better than when you started," Dylan said, encouragingly, coming over to join them.

"Well, well. That was rather impressive, wasn't it?"

Alice spun, and felt an irrepressible grin work its way across her face. Standing at the corner of the room, just beyond the group of laughing pilots were two of her favourite people in the entire galaxy (not saying much, considering the number of people she knew).

"Han! Luke!"

She forgot her tiredness (and Clementine and Dylan) instantly, and pushed her way through her fan-club to join them.

"Hey kid," Han said warmly, giving her a loose, one-armed hug.

"I am disproportionately pleased to see you!" She beamed, throwing her arms around Luke. He hugged her back, and she had to resist the urge to squeak happily. _I've missed this. Guy hugs are the best._

As she and Luke stepped apart though, she gave both of them a narrow glare, and poked Han in the chest, "It's about time you got here. What took you so long? Have you told Leia that you've arrived?"

"Not yet," Han said, looking disgruntled, "where is her highness-ness anyway?"

"My bet, main control room. I'll take you there. Hang on." She faced Starn, who looked exasperated, "Starn, honey. Sweet, darling, wonderful Captain Starn…"

"Yes, alright," he said, rolling his eyes, "We're done for the day. Good job, Alice."

"That's the first time you've called me Alice! Result!"

Starn sighed, and shaking his head, walked away. Alice shrugged, and turned to her two friends. "This way, my little chums, this way."

Flashing a grin at Han, she led them from the room and started to beat the familiar trail to the control room. "Who was that?" Luke asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Hmm? Oh, that was Captain Starn. He's been giving me combat training. As you no doubt saw, I am now a bona fide warrior chick." Luke stifled a laugh at this, but Han frowned, "And whose idea was it to give you combat training?"

"Leia's," Alice said, matter-of-factly. "At first I was really annoyed, but now I don't mind so much, because, between you and me, with all this training, I am totally slimming down. Plus there is the aforementioned badass-ness. It's great." She sighed contentedly and linked arms with the two of them, "It's so nice to have you two back again. But why were you so late? Did they have you packing up things for days back on Yavin Four?"

"That, and we ran into a bounty hunter on our way over here," Luke said.

"Bossk," Han growled, glaring into the distance, "that little creep's had it in for me ever since Chewie and I started working together. Trandoshans, the only race stupid enough to hunt wookiees."

"They hunt them?" Alice repeated, feeling slightly sickened, "Like…like animals?"

"Yeah. It's a great tradition on Trandosha."

"But you got away?"

"Slipped past him near Florrum. He damaged the _Falcon _when we were escaping, the son of a..." he glanced briefly at Alice and trailed off into ominous silence.

"Why was he chasing you?"

"Jabba the Hutt's got a price on my head," he said grimly, "a big one I'm guessing, from Bossk's refusal to take 'no' for an answer."

"Oh…" Alice said, worried, "You'll be safe here though, right?"

"For a little while, yes," he said. And then he clammed up and refused to say any Alice found suspicious to say the least.

But by then they had reached the control room, and Alice distracted herself in gleefully anticipating Leia's expression when she heard the others were back. She swanned casually into the room, ducking confidently between bustling control staff and glowing screens. "Hey, Leia!"

The princess was leaning over an operative's shoulder, but looked up at the sound of her name. Her eyes fell on Alice, then shifted to the two people standing behind her. Alice grinned as first surprise, then genuine happiness, and finally controlled pleasure passed across Leia's face. She came towards them, a polite smile on her face. Only the brightness in her eyes gave away how happy she really was.

"Han, Luke. Welcome. I'm glad that you've arrived. We could do with some extra hands around here."

"Thank you," Luke said politely, "we'd be glad to-"

But Han, his eyes resting shrewdly on Leia's face cut him off, "Charming. It's lovely to see you too, princess."

Leia narrowed her eyes at Han, her tone turning instantly brisk, "Do you have an explanation for your delayed return?"

"Yeah," he said, stepping up onto the small step Leia was on, allowing him to get some height advantage over her as he stared her down, "A bounty hunter chased us half of the way here, we were lucky to escape with our lives."

"Really?" Leia asked, wrinkling her nose in disbelief, "Somehow I doubt that."

Han made an indignant huffing sound, and Leia narrowed her eyes at him, "I believe the patrol units are still short of a few men. You and Luke may head over to the South East entrance, where the tauntauns are kept. You will receive more information there." With one last glare at Han, Leia swept off to more important things.

Alice sighed and shook her head, "Han, Han, Han…"

"What?" He said, indignant.

"When are you going to realise that you fancy the socks off of her?"

These words prompted an explosive reaction. "Fancy her? Oh, no, kid, you've got it all wrong. I can't think of anyone I would be less attracted to. And trust me, with my list of acquaintances, that's saying something. I like you better than her, kid. Why would you think I like her?"

She tsked, "You forget, Han, you're talking to one of the five or so other women on this planet. We know these things." This left him a little dumbstruck. With a knowing smile, Alice beckoned Luke, "South East entrance, right? I'll take you."

They left the room. It took a moment for Han to catch up with them; but instead of walking beside them, he trailed a few feet back, muttering to himself.

"Alice," Luke said, his voice sounding slightly odd, "do you really think that Han…that he _likes_ Leia…?"

_Uh oh._

Honestly, her answer would be…yes. But if she said that, Luke might resent Han or try to compete with him for Leia's affections. But what if she said no? He'd probably be happier, but she'd more or less be allowing him to hit on his sister.

With an internal groan, Alice tried to reply diplomatically, "Um…I'm not sure. I was just guessing. I think a lot of people probably fancy her. I mean, come on, she's beautiful, she's a freaking warrior princess…"

He nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face.

_Dammit! I just reminded him of all the good reasons to like her! You can't date your sister, dude, it's wrong!_

"But, you know, Han…well, he's a pretty attractive guy."

"He is?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely. It's the bad boy appeal. Spaceship, blaster and…well, those trousers pretty much speak for themselves. Leia probably likes him…you know. Deep down inside. Well, I would if I was her."

"You would?" He looked troubled. _Why does he look so worried? Does that mean he doesn't like the idea of _me_ fancying Han? Or just that Leia might? Rude. Why do I care? I don't! …I'm talking to myself again. Sigh…_

"Here you are then," she said, as they reached the tauntaun stables, "south east entrance. Have fun. I'm going to go do some more flips and stuff. Bye."

Luke, looking a little bit puzzled by her sudden drop in spirits, said, "See you later."

"Yeah. Laters." She clapped Han on the shoulder as she passed him, and trudged back to the training room. Starn looked surprised to see her, and looking quite so gloomy, "Back so soon, Miller?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said, blowing her hair out of her eyes. "I know. Why don't we see if I can do a one-handed hand stand…?"

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	12. Super Mega Awesome Ninja Times

Hello everyone! Greetings from the land of the stupidly busy person - I'm very glad that this entire story is already written, it means that I can keep giving you all regular updates! :)

This week's **shout-outs **go to: **Sev**, **FireElemental159 **and **Taboo22**- thanks very much for reviewing, it makes for a happy author. :)

Kay, so these last couple of chapters (basically, all the time spent on Hoth between the first and second films) are my least favourite parts, and the ones I've rewritten the most. Eventually I decided I should just stop fussing and post them, but...still not completely satisfied. Still, hope you enjoy them.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of its characters. Only Alice is** mine.

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Starn let her go at around six o'clock (1800 hours, military time, oh yeah), with the delightful news that the next day was to be her last day of training. Tired, but pleased with the progress she had made, Alice meandered through the base, taking the slowest possible route back to her room, simply because she could.

As she walked, everyone she passed gave her a little nod or a smile. It was frankly extremely weird and very lovely at the same time – she'd had no idea that just hanging out with Luke, Han and Leia would make her such a well-known figure among the rebels, even when she hadn't really done anything yet.

She had just reached her room when she heard a high pitched squealing from the end of the corridor, which nearly caused her to have a heart attack and actually caused her to jump into the air and utter a very high-pitched squeal herself. _Hang on…I know that screamy sound…_

Alice spun, and to her delight (and relief – she didn't want to be the character that got eaten by an evil mutant pig), saw Artoo racing towards her at full speed, "Artoo!" He stopped just short of crashing into her knees and possibly incapacitating her, and stomped backwards and forwards at her feet, whistling eagerly.

"Calm down," she said, patting him fondly on the head, "I'm glad to see you too."

He beeped at her, and Threepio's voice, coming from nowhere, magically translated for him, "He is wondering if you know where Master Luke and Captain Solo are at present."

"Threepio!"

"Mistress Alice. Oh, I am so glad to see you are alright."

"Thanks, old bean. Likewise." She grinned, and elbowed him lightly in the side (resulting in an instant bruise to the elbow that she thought was probably worth it). Artoo beeped again, and Alice knelt down, "I don't actually know where they are, but around this time…they'll probably be eating."

He bleeped loudly. "Come on then, we'll check the cafeteria. Coming Threepio?"

"I shall certainly accompany you, Mistress Alice, thank you."

As she set off down the corridor with her two companions, she felt the distinct urge to start singing _"We're Off to See the Wizard" _but resisted because a random rebel would always appear around a corner every time she thought they'd reached a deserted enough corridor.

When they reached the canteen, Alice spotted Han and Luke almost immediately – they were surrounded by a large group of rebels, probably worshiping them or some such. Alice raised her eyes to the ceiling, and started wading through the crowd, chanting a litany of sorry's and excuse me's every time she bumped into someone. Eventually she reached the table that the two men were actually sitting at, and flopped down beside them, "Hey guys. Busy, isn't it."

"You said it, kid," Han grumbled, looking far less pleased than Alice might have thought to have a crowd of admirers surrounding him. Probably because they were almost all men.

"Ah, lighten up, honey," she said sweetly, "it's just because they wuv you. You are their gun-toting, tight-trousered deity."

He glared at her, and she grinned. Luke, it seemed, wasn't suffering at all. He was in his element, shaking hands, listening carefully to all the clamouring voices, and smiling at everyone. "Look at him go," she said fondly, "little Mr Nice Guy."

"Is there anything he can't do?"

"I don't know," Alice said, musingly, "I've never seen him cook anything. Perhaps one day I'll ask him to make me a soufflé and see what he does."

He quirked an eyebrow at her, but otherwise ignored the reference to items of culinary excellence of which he had no comprehension, "So what's been going on here while we've been gone, hmm?"

"For me, endless training. As for the actual rebellion, I really couldn't say," Alice replied drily, "you'd have to ask Leia, but since you seem to be able to annoy her just by entering a room, I wouldn't recommend it."

"It's not my fault she's so stubborn," he muttered under his breath.

"And I suppose it's also not your fault that you're an arrogant sod who enjoys winding her up," said Alice, grinning, "no self-pity for you, flyboy."

"Ha," Han muttered for some reason. He looked around twitchily, then said, "I'm getting crushed here. Let's go." Before she could protest, he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her away through the crowd. This, for some reason, prompted a cacophony of wolf-whistling and cat-calling. Alice blushed furiously, and found herself searching for Luke's face in the crowd. She couldn't find him though before Han had yanked her out of the room altogether.

"Dude!" She complained as they reached the corridor, "Did you have to do that? The last thing I need is everyone thinking you and I are…involved."

"Of course they don't think that," Han said dismissively, dropping her hand at once, "you and Luke are practically a done deal."

"I'm sorry?" Alice said, raising her eyebrows, "What, pray tell, are you talking about?"

"Come on kid," said Han, giving her a patronising look, "he rescued you in the desert. You followed him from Tatooine. You kissed him before the battle above Yavin and you're practically glowing after spending one day with him."

Alice stared, "…Glowing?"

Han sighed, grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to a halt in front of a mirror-backed door. "Look."

Her own familiar face stared back at her: the same brown hair loose around her shoulders, same brown eyes, same light freckles decorating the bridge of her nose…confused, Alice peered more closely at her reflection. She supposed her cheeks were a little more flushed than usual, but that was because…

"Damn," Alice muttered, her breath fogging out into the cold air. _Can't blame a blush on the temperature._

"See?" Han said, bending down so his face appeared in the glass beside hers, "Glowing."

"Yeah, well," she said, shoving him lightly with her shoulder, and walking past him, "that still doesn't mean anything."

"And I suppose that kiss didn't mean anything either?" He said, following her with a smirk.

Alice felt blood rushing to the surface of her face, neck, ears and…knees? _I think my knees are blushing. How the hell do knees blush?_ Nevertheless, dignity must be maintained.

"_That_ was the result of bad timing and nerves," she said, coolly, drawing herself up to her full (but still quite diminutive) height, "it was a complete accident. Furthermore, it wasn't what it looked like. And you weren't even there."

"Whatever you say," Han said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I resent your doubtful tone, Solo."

"I'm just saying," he said, raising his hands.

"Wasn't even a proper kiss," Alice muttered under her breath.

Han heard, and grinned, "Count on it, sweetheart, one day soon you're going to wake up and realise what everyone else here already has: you _like _him – and he likes you."

"Sure," she said dismissively, "and the day I'll do he'll probably be out getting himself killed or some such, like an inconsiderate jerk…"

Too late, she saw Han's eyes light up, and she pointed at him desperately, "That means nothing! I was talking hypothetically! I don't fancy the missing fifth Beatle!"

"I think you've got something you need to talk to Commander Skywalker about, kid," he said knowingly, "my advice would be to get it over and done with."

"Hark who's talking!" Alice spluttered indignantly, "what about you and Leia? Hmm?"

"…Uh…"

"Ah, Chewie!" She turned to the wookiee, who had just appeared around the corner and was staring at her in what was possibly alarm, probably because she was the colour of a tomato, "So good to see you. I'm going to leave Mr Solo here with you because I have a pressing engagement…elsewhere. Goodbye!"

"Nice try, sister!" Han called after her as she dashed away, "You're not fooling anybody!"

_Douchebag…_

The next day, Alice, having enforced a spell of forgetfulness to fall over that little episode with Han, went to breakfast expecting to sit with her little table of girls, only to find a wookiee, one smuggler and a boy that she may or may not have some kind of attraction to claiming her attention instead.

"Alice!" Luke called, waving her over. Chewbacca looked up and growled encouragingly.

"Good morning," she said, carefully avoiding Han's eyes as she set her tray down. Luke smiled warmly at her, but Han gave her a distinctly grumpy look, "Yeah, that's exactly what this morning is, sweetheart. _Good_."

"Well," Alice said, raising her eyebrows, secretly relieved that he seemed in too bad a mood to tease her today, "pardon me for expressing pleasure in my environment. What's happened to put you in such a bad mood, oh infallible Captain Solo?"

"Alright," he said, rubbing his head, "I get it. Enough with the long words. It's too early."

She grinned, and listened as Luke said, in an undertone, "Leia's assigned Han to run reconnaissance missions all week."

Alice raised an eyebrow and scooped up some space porridge, "So?"

"So," Han exploded, "I've got to drag myself out into freezing temperatures every morning on those stinking tauntauns, just to plant a bunch of sensors in the snow, where they probably won't work anyway."

"And I can see you're already looking forward to the task," Alice said, prompting a stifled snort from Luke.

Han glared at them, and muttered, "I swear, that woman will be the death of me."

"Most likely," said Alice cheerfully, "we live in hope, anyway." Han stared at her as she munched on porridge, looking like a grumpy owl, "What are you in such a good mood, anyway?"

"Well," she said, chirpily, "I have my last morning of training today – no more being beaten into a pulp by my charming instructors. Yay!"

"Doesn't that mean you're taking your assessment?" Luke said, curiously.

Alice spat out a mouthful of food, spluttering very attractively, "Say what?"

Han looked pleased, "Assessment, eh? I like the sound of that – now you'll be just as miserable as I am."

She glared at him and pointed at Luke threateningly, "What assessment?"

Luke looked slightly intimidated, having porridge spat at him by a mad, starey-eyed girl at seven in the morning, "At the end of basic training, you have to be assessed, to make sure that you are eligible to be a member of the Army. It's the same one as the initial testing, I think."

Alice muttered a swear word under her breath, and Han cocked his head, amused, "What was that, Alice?"

"Nothing," she said, through gritted teeth, jabbing her porridge with rather more force than necessary, "Well. I'd better go and start getting ready to die through over-exertion and a healthy dose of humiliation."

Han snorted and Alice eyed him balefully, "I was about to say 'If I don't make it, I loved you', but I'm not going to now. I don't love you at all."

"His loss," Luke said, grinning. Alice and Han looked at him. _Awks..._

"Well," said Alice, feeling a warm flush creep across her cheeks, "thanks, Luke. I'll ah…be going now. Love you- I mean…see you later."

She got to her feet and hurried across the cafeteria, not even noticing the weird looks some people were giving her. Suddenly, and quite inexplicably, the assessment didn't seem like such a bad thing after all. _If you think about it,_ Alice reasoned, _it can't be worse than the first one, can it?_

Alas, how wrong one can be.

Alice stepped tentatively into the training room to find Captain Starn waiting for her, a grim smile on his face. _Not encouraging._

"Um, hi," she said, tentatively, shrugging off her overcoat and chucking it to one side.

"Good morning, Miller," Starn said, sounding extremely pleased with himself, "welcome to your final assessment."

"…Thank you…?"

The evil glint in Starn's eye suggested she'd be regretting that expression of gratitude soon enough.

First stop on the deadly assessment of doom was the assault course. Alice found, to her own surprise, that she completed this quite quickly – the last three weeks or so of training had apparently paid off, at least in terms of her brute physical strength and fitness.

The shooting and combat sessions, on the other hand…questionable.

_Alright…come on Miller. You can do this. You're Superman; you're Legolas – you have eyes like a hawk and a talent for stating the obvious._

She stepped up to the line and raised the special blaster she used with the simulator, wrapping her fingers tightly around the grip. Then she took a deep breath, and remembering what Starn had so gently and tenderly beaten into her, carefully squeezed the trigger.

It wasn't _that _bad – it hit the target at least. The outside edge of it. The outer corner. By the very slimmest of margins. Alice grumbled under her breath and shot a glance at Starn, who was standing by and taking notes. His expression was completely unreadable. _Alright. I've got four more shots. Come on, I know I can do better than that…_

By pure determination and will power, she managed to make her next three shots hit the outer two rings of the target – and by the force of what could only be a miracle, the last one struck just outside the centre. Alice punched the air in silent victory, then suddenly remembered she was being assessed, and sheepishly lowered her arm.

Starn finished scribbling something on his tablet, then gestured towards the cushioned combat zone, "Take your position, Miss Miller."

Alice put the simulation goggles and blaster aside, and did as she was told, settling herself nervously in the centre of the mat. Starn followed her at a slightly slower pace, that worryingly smug smile back on his face.

"Um," Alice said, glancing around, "who am I gonna be fighting-"

Her words were drowned by an animalistic yell – Alice yelped and jumped about a foot in the air like a startled rabbit. _What the-?_

Whipping around, she saw Dylan charging towards her like a rhino, head down, obscenely large muscles rippling as he ran.

"Oh sweet lord, I'm going to die-" Alice half-turned to run away, but was called back by Starn bellowing, "Hold your ground!"

Instinctively obeying the voice of command, she skittered to a halt at the edge of the mat – she'd put enough space between her and Dylan to allow herself about two seconds of thinking time before he reached her, which of course, she put to full use. _Ohgodohgodohgodohgod…_

Dylan swung a huge meaty fist at her head; with a squeak, Alice ducked, and hurried around him, backing up as he pivoted to face her. _Um, um, think…think…be Scarlet Johansson!_

She had no idea where the idea of modelling herself on an actress came from, especially an actress that as far as she knew had nothing to do with combat, but it proved strangely effective – as Dylan took a step towards her, legs bent in a fight-ready position, Alice found herself unexpectedly leaping into the air, placing one foot on his leg above his knee, and pushing herself upwards. At the time, she was too shocked to wonder where on earth the move had come from, but when she thought back on it, she realised it was a weird combination of team balance and vaulting - a gymnastics move that went horribly wrong and took Dylan completely by surprise.

He stumbled under her weight, and fell backwards, and Alice, grabbing his shoulders in sudden panic, went down with him. The end result of Alice's little moment of madness was that she ended up lying across Dylan's chest, while he stared up at the ceiling, clearly so surprised to find himself down on the ground that he couldn't move her off him.

"Well."

Brought back to the immediate reality of the situation, Alice scrambled upright, accidently treading on Dylan's fingers and nearly falling over again. Starn caught her by the arm, steadying her, and she looked nervously up at him, wondering if he was going to shout at her.

But he didn't. Instead, for the first time since she'd met him, he smiled. An actual genuine smile. And grasping her right hand in his, he shook her hand firmly, "Welcome to the Rebel Army, Miss Miller."

Alice gaped, then let out a shriek of excitement, "Really? Are you serious? Thanks so much!"

Apparently tiring quickly of positive emotion, he extracted his hand from hers, and folded both hands behind his back, "I will have to clear your assessment with General Rieekan, of course. You will report to his office this evening."

"Oh," Alice said, fighting back her excitement and trying to look serious, "of course. Thank you. Sir."

He gave her a sharp nod before walking away, but Alice thought she could see a twinkle in his eyes. She grinned. _This is ridiculous. Me? A soldier?_

"Congratulations," Dylan said, getting stiffly to his feet, "that certainly was…unexpected, Miss Miller. Care to tell me what exactly it was?"

"Um…" she shook her head, at a loss, "gymnastics plus Scarlet Johansson. I think. Excuse me, I've got to go and tell my friends."

She half-danced, half-ran out of the room, leaving him frowning in confusion behind her.

"Leia! Leia! Leia!"

"Yes, Alice," Leia said sharply, shooting a glare at her. Refusing to be chided, Alice threw her arms around her friend's neck, and cried, "I passed my assessment!"

Leia's eyebrows shot upwards, "Really?"

"Normally I'd be offended at your obvious surprise," Alice said, cheerfully, "but not today, José!"

"Well," Leia said, choking a little due to Alice's stranglehold on her, "that's fantastic…Alice…do you think you could…"

"Sorry," Alice chirruped, releasing Leia, but not before kissing her unceremoniously on the top of her head, "where are Luke and Han?"

"Han's on patrol," said Leia, trying to surreptitiously smooth down her hair, "and I sent Luke off to manage the teams setting up the base's defences."

Alice hopped towards the door, "Where's that?"

Leia turned back to her work, "North entrance. Threepio will show you."

"Threepio?" Alice peered around and jumped in surprise when she suddenly spotted the golden droid emerging from the shadows in the corner of the room, "Woah. Didn't see you there."

"This way, Mistress Alice," he said, self-importantly, "and congratulations on your success! I daresay Master Luke will be very impressed."

Alice grinned, amused, "D'you think?"

"Oh, indeed."

_Aww,_ _bless. He is sweet, for a golden butler._

They hurried through Echo Base, Alice waving cheerily at everyone they passed. Nothing could dampen her good mood, not even the water that dripped on her head through the ceiling in one of the less-frequented areas of the base.

Eventually, Threepio, after leading them into three dead ends and an empty store room, managed to locate the north entrance. Luke was dead ahead of them as they entered the huge hangar, congratulating a group of men for their "excellent work" before dismissing them. Alice, who had been about to bound forward and yell his name, suddenly fell back a step, surprise and pride hitting her with unexpected strength.

_He's changed since we were on Yavin. How long's it been? About three weeks? Might as well have been three years._

Then Luke turned, running a hand through his hair, and Alice snapped out of her reflective/affectionate mood at once. She hurried towards him, skipping every other step, "Luke!"

He saw her, and instantly his face lit up, as if seeing her was the best thing that had happened to him…since he'd seen her this morning. "Hi. How was your assessment?"

Alice put a hand to her heart, beaming, "You remembered!"

"Of course," he said, putting his hands in his pockets and stopping in front of her, "it was only this morning."

She made a dismissive noise (though inside she was still cooing with delight), "Yeah, I know. Anyway. I passed! Yay!"

"Oh, hey, that's great!" He said, and it sounded like he really meant it. _Not like when Leia said it…_ "We should celebrate!"

Alice laughed, one eyebrow raised, "I didn't think there'd be much of an opportunity for celebrating in a military base."

"We can ask Leia," said Luke, reassuringly, "I'm sure she can sort something out." He smiled at her, and the look of genuine pride and pleasure on his face moved Alice so much that she actually squealed (like a _fangirl_): "Awww! You're so adorable, dear!"

"Well, well. What have we got here?"

_I do not like that tone.._

Clearing her throat slightly, Alice turned around to face Han with an expression of total composure. She hoped. "Oh. Hello, Han. How are you this evening?"

"Fine and dandy," he said, grinning slyly at her from beneath the huge fluffy hood he was wearing, "and yourselves?"

"Alice passed her assessment," Luke said warmly, completely oblivious to the silent war going on between the other two, and the role he played within it, "I was just saying we should do something to celebrate."

"Way to go, kid," Han said, raising his eyebrows in genuine surprise, "I'll admit, I didn't think you had it in you."

"Thanks," she said, sarcastically, "by the way, how was your patrol?"

His smile dropped away, and he glared at her, "Freezing. I'm surprised my fingers haven't dropped off."

"You were wearing gloves, Han," Luke said, amused, "gloves specifically designed to protect you from frostbite."

Alice smirked at Han, "Yeah. Stop complaining. Wimp."

Fuming, Han said abruptly, "You know, Luke, you're right, we should celebrate Alice passing her assessment. How about you sit down and eat dinner together? Just the two of you." Alice narrowed her eyes at Han, while Luke frowned mildly and said, "I was thinking we'd all be there."

"Exactly," Alice said, defiantly, "it's my celebration, and I'll pick who's going to be there, thank you very much. You can sit next to Leia, Han. I'm sure the two of you will have a wonderful evening together."

"Ha!"

"What?" Luke said, apparently finally picking up on the not so subtle intimations of hostility between Alice and Han. _He's just too nice to think that friends might fight once in a while._

"Nothing," said Alice, acidly, not noticing the expression of surprised hurt that came across Luke's face as she turned and stalked away, "nothing at all."

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	13. Unlucky 13

Hi guys! Sorry for the slight delay, truly has been hectic around here lately.

As always, I have a few **shout-outs **to make, this week to: **Taboo22**, **iloveashandquinn**, **Sev**, **SummerAngelz**, and an unidentified but still appreciated **Guest**. It means a lot that you guys continue to show such support for this story, and I'm very grateful to you all. :) Hope you enjoy this week's chapter.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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"Mistress Alice?" Threepio was knocking at her door. Again. Alice rolled her eyes, and debated whether she could be bothered to get up from her duvet nest and tell him to go away. She'd already tried shouting, but it hadn't worked. Post arguing with Han she'd slouched off to her room and was currently buried under a duvet and two blankets.

"Mistress Alice, it is rather important-" The droid's voice trailed off suddenly, and after a moment of quiet murmuring, was replaced by Leia's, "Alice, come out."

Alice made a face, "No."

"Alice!" She frowned and stuck her head out from her blanket nest. Was that Han?

"What is it?"

There was a slight pause, then Han shouted, "Luke's been hurt, Alice, this is an emergency, damn it!"

"What?!" She was on her feet in an instant, and dashing across the room. Skidding in her fluffy socks and nearly crashing into the wall, Alice heaved the door open, panting slightly, "What's going on-"

"Surprise, kid," Han said, with a warm grin. They were all gathered before her, Chewie, Han, Leia, Luke, Threepio, Artoo and for some bizarre reason, General Rieekan.

"What is this?" Alice said, bewildered, "You're like the world's strangest group of carollers. Hang on," she narrowed her eyes and pointed at Luke, "he's not hurt. You tricked me!"

Leia gave her a surprisingly sweet smile, and said, "We've come to congratulate you, Alice. General Rieekan?"

The fatherly man, neat as a pin in his Rebel uniform, took a step forward, and said, with an air of formality that the rest of her welcoming committee lacked, "Alice Miller, I hereby welcome you into the Army of the Rebel Alliance, in the rank of private. Will you devote your life henceforth to the task of freeing this galaxy from the tyranny under which it currently suffers?"

Alice blinked, "Um…yeah?"

He smiled, "Good enough. Here." He reached out and clipped something to the right breast of her jacket. Alice glanced down and saw that it was a badge, plain white but with a single red square in the centre, made of some kind of enamel. She brushed it gently with her fingertips and found herself smiling.

"Well…thanks guys. This is…really nice." She looked up and saw that Han's grin had widened. It wasn't exactly an apologetic smile, but the warmth in it went a long way for earning her forgiveness. So she smiled back and held out her arms to them, "Group hug, Team Jedi!"

Luke and Han wrapped her up in their arms at once; Leia and Threepio joined more hesitantly, while Artoo darted between Han and Leia's legs to sit by Alice's side. Chewie simply threw out his massive arms and somehow managed to hug everyone at once. Alice, crushed in the centre, couldn't help grinning around at them all. "Aww, you lot are so sweet."

BREAK

What with her being, in theory at least, an official member of the Rebel Army, Alice supposed that she'd been given...well, something to do. This assumption proved false. Seemed like everyone was too busy to waste time coming up with duties for the new private who didn't really have any talents.

In the end, she just started hanging out with Artoo and Threepio, following them around wherever they went and trying to look professional whenever they came across another rebel.

About a week after her rather informal initiation ceremony, Alice was attempting to explain the concept of a snowball fight to the two droids when she heard footsteps at the end of the corridor. "Quick," she hissed, knocking the lump of snow she'd just handed to Threepio out of his grip, "act natural."

She whipped around, and fixing an expression of musing expertise on her face, started surveying the wall, her eyes narrowed. "Yes, yes," she said, giving Artoo a nudge with her foot as she heard the footsteps getting closer, "very...structurally sound. Excellent, excellent..."

"Alice?"

_I know those dulcet tones!_

Dropping her hand, which had, without her knowledge, started stroking an imaginary beard, she turned to find Luke and Han standing behind her, the former looking rather more cheerful than the latter (as per usual).

"Oh, hey chums," she said, smiling, "what's up?"

"We're about to head off on patrol," Luke said, pausing in front of her, "what are you up to?"

"Er..."

Han raised his eyebrows, and said, "If you're looking for something to do kid, Chewie's in the hangar, fixing the _Falcon_. Don't suppose you'd like to give him a hand?"

"Don't you mean a paw?" Alice said, with a delighted snicker at her own wit. The two men stared at her, unresponsive. _I try so hard, and what do I get for my trouble? Nothing, that's what. _She coughed, and said, "Yeah, sure, I can do that."

"Great," Han said, his expression darkening a little, "the sooner she's fixed…" he trailed off, glancing between the two of them. Alice raised her eyebrows at him, "Yes…?"

He lowered his eyes, "Nothing."

"Right…" She didn't know what it was that was making Han act so suspiciously all of a sudden, but she didn't like it, "Well. I'll be off then. See you two later."

"Bye Alice," Luke said, with a warm smile and a wave.

She returned the gesture, and walked away, heading for the hangar._  
_

When she got there, she found that the huge, icy room was far more subdued than usual. There were hardly any orange suited pilots; they'd all been replaced by engineers in their blue boiler suits. Engineer Bob walked past, and Alice waved at him cheerfully. He gave her a salute in return, and called, "I think your friend's over there, miss!"

"Thanks!" She turned in the direction indicated, and to her delight, found none other than the _Millennium Falcon_, which sat looking quietly dilapidated in the midst of all the gleaming (but useless) speeders. She grinned, smiling broadly up at the hunk of junk that was the _Falcon_. "Boy, am I glad to see you again."

She got a loud growly noise from the wing by way of a reply, and a furry head appeared above her. "Hey, Chewie! So this is where you've been chilling. Ha! Get it? Chilling?" The wookiee whined, and she sighed, "I'm wasted on you lot, I really am." He burbled something, and returned to his work: in one paw he was holding a large scary looking tool and in the other some sparking loose wires. Alice lounged against the side of the _Falcon_, grinning up at him, "Hey, thanks for coming to my promotion party, Chewie. I bet it was your idea, wasn't it?"

He purred/meowed/barked, and from somewhere nearby Threepio said, "He says that of course it was."

"You scamp," Alice said, grinning, "Hey, you need any help up there?"

He roared and Threepio translated, "If you could pass up tools to him while he works, he will be most grateful."

"Not a problem, big guy. I've been totally practicing my tool recognition skills..."

She took up a position under the wing near the toolbox, and with Threepio keeping her company, passed the time finding obscure pieces of machinery for Chewbacca. She'd been working steadily for at least two hours when a question occurred to her, a question she'd never really considered before. "Threepio…how long has there been a Galactic Empire?"

"Oh…the Emperor has been in power for nineteen years now."

"And Luke's nineteen, right?"

"I believe so, yes."

"So…he was born at the rise of the Empire. And before the Empire there was…"

"A Republic, governed by a Galactic Senate, which was overseen by a High Chancellor elected for a limited term by their fellow senators."

"Right. Got it."

_Glad I don't have to take a General Studies exam on _this _galaxy..._

She retreated into her thoughts, absentmindedly rummaging in the toolbox without really looking at the bits of machinery. A few minutes later though, she was jolted out of her pleasantly idle state as Han came striding towards her, fully swathed in outdoor clothes: coat, ski-mask, gloves, boots. Clearly, he'd just arrived back from patrol - he certainly looked grumpy enough.

"Chewie! Chewie!"

"Hey, flyboy," she called, waving him over. Chewie, taking note of Han's arrival, started to shout at him, waving the welder Alice had just given him over his head.

"Alright, alright," Han called back, though how in the world he understood the odd mixture of grunts, whines and growls Chewie was making, she had no idea, "don't lose your temper. I'll come right back and give you a hand!" He looked at Alice, "I've got to go make my report."

"Alright," she said distractedly, worried by the way Chewie was flailing the tool around, "Be careful with that, Chewie! I don't think we have another one!"

She heard a faint laugh, but when she turned around, Han had already moved off. Chewbacca growled down at her, and Threepio said, "I believe he is saying that this part of the wing is finished. At last."

"At last," she echoed, stretching. "You need a hand down from there, fluffy?" _Not that I can give a seven foot tall walking doormat a hand…_

The wookiee shook his head, and swung himself easily down to the ground. He was so tall that he could practically reach the lip of the wing anyway.

"Right. What next?"

Chewie grumbled something, and crawled underneath the _Falcon_, taking his welder with him. Alice yawned, and sat down on top of the toolbox she'd been rummaging through, resting her chin in her hands and watching the wookiee bash away at various parts of the ship. "You know Chewie, I think I like you the best of everyone I've met here so far. Well, apart from Artoo and Threepio. And Ben of course. You know why?"

The wookiee grumbled quizzically and went on fixing whatever it was he was fixing. Unfazed by the fact that he clearly understood her about as much as she understood him, Alice went on. "You never try to confuse me. Everything's plain and simple with you, my friend. Oh, and you hardly ever give me that 'what?' look that everyone else does when I do something stupid. That and you have never made me do combat training." She made a face, "Leia definitely lost some points for that one." She got to her feet, and stretched, "Chewie, darling, do you need me any more, or is it cool for me to skedaddle?"

Chewie chirruped and Threepio stepped in, "He thanks you for your help, and says you may depart."

"Awesome," she said, giving the droid a thumbs up, "see you boys later."

She meandered back across the room, and had just reached the door when suddenly a very disgruntled Han Solo, striding at top speed and apparently not paying any attention to where he was going, smacked into her.

"Woah!" Alice staggered backwards, nearly fell, and managed to steady herself by catching Han's arm. He gave her a brief, aggravated glance, as if her nearly falling over was somehow her fault, then said, "Is Chewie done with the _Falcon _yet?"

"No, he's still doing something...underneath it. What's the matter with-"

"He's doing what?" Han exploded, as if she'd told him the wookiee was ripping the ship apart with his bare paws, "I'm trying to get us out of here and he's-"

Alice frowned and raised a hand, "Hold up. You're doing what?"

Han started and looked guiltily at her as if he had only just realised she was there, "Well, you didn't expect me to stick around forever, did ya kid?"

"Not forever, no," she replied indignantly, "but I thought you might stay a little longer. You only got here like, a week ago."

"Well, you thought wrong! I'm not a soldier, I'm a smuggler! What is it with you and Leia not being able to get it into your heads that I'm not...some kind of hero-"

Alice's eyes widened, "Wait, what was that about Leia?"

"Nothing! I just told her I was going and she went completely ballistic, as usual. There is something seriously wrong-."

"What exactly did you say to her?"

He huffed, and refused to meet her gaze, "Ally, come on…"

"Han."

"Fine! I just pointed out she clearly has feelings for me."

Alice smacked a hand to her forehead. "Oh, you idiot. You do realise that now she's going to be in a bad mood for the rest of the day? You're not the only one who suffers when her wrath is roused. Think of all the poor control room operators that are going to come under fire. Think about my poor friend Lana!"

"Well, excuse me, but since I'm leaving, I thought it was about time she admitted it!" He pushed past her and started walking back towards the _Falcon_, then suddenly spun back to face her, "Do you know what she said?"

"Uh…no…"

"She said she'd rather kiss a wookiee than me. A wookiee!" Alice stared, then burst into delighted laughter, "She didn't! Oh, that's priceless! Talk about putting you in your place. Idiot."

"Don't you start," he snapped. _Rather kiss a wookiee! Ahh, Leia. You funny, funny girl._ Eventually Alice managed to control her mirth, and poked the very bad-tempered looking Han in the chest, "Right, well, I'd better go and start cleaning up the mess you've made, hadn't I?"

"What do I care?" He said, sulkily, "Tell her whatever you like."

"Right-o, then," Alice said cheerfully, as she made her way to the door, "whatever I like."

"Alice…? Wait…Alice!"

She ignored his panicked call, and skipped off to find Leia, still chuckling under her breath. _Oh, I'm going to have so much fun with this._ She discovered the princess, as usual, with General Rieekan in the control room. "Hey, Leia. Busy?"

The princess turned, her expression tight, "Oh, Alice. Hello."

"Listen, Han just asked me to come and apologise to you for what he said earlier," Alice said, enjoying herself immensely, "he's really, really sorry, and he's just too embarrassed to say so himself. He really wants you to forgive him though."

"I don't have time for his foolishness," she growled, putting a definite damper on Alice's good-natured lies, "I've been trying to talk to him for the last five minutes. I don't know where Luke is, and Han was the last person to talk to him."

Suddenly, Alice was feeling the cold a lot more intensely, "What? What do you mean we don't know where Luke is? Where could he possibly be?"

"He was on patrol with Han," Leia said, seeing the way Alice was twitching and softening her tone a little, "Apparently he went to check out a meteor strike, but we haven't heard from him, and it's getting dark."

"So? You're telling me you don't have torches?" Alice demanded, exasperated, "Go and look for him!"

"Alice, I don't think you understand. All the other members of the patrol are back already, and our speeders still aren't working. I suppose we could send out some men to search close range but after sunset the temperature outside drops by at least thirty degrees. Any search party wouldn't get far, and Luke was way out beyond the secondary markers when he disappeared."

"But we can't just leave him!"

"Your majesty…" The two of them turned to see one of the computer operatives leaning towards them, one hand over his headphones, "Captain Solo has taken a tauntaun out to look for Commander Skywalker."

"What? That fool…" Leia snapped, "Get him on the radio now."

"We've been trying, ma'am, he's non-responsive."

"I'm going to the tauntaun stables," Alice said, decisively. Leia, talking urgently with the orderly, didn't notice, so she turned at once to leave. As she walked, she came across Threepio and Artoo heading in the opposite direction and rapped out, "You two, come with me."

"Oh my…"

Flanked by her metal compatriots, Alice burst into the tauntaun stables, shouting the first name that came into her head, "Tal!"

"Miss!" The soldier was looking distressed, "Captain Solo…we tried to stop him, but he wouldn't take no for an answer."

"I know," she said grimly, "he's stupid like that. Did he say anything before he left?"

"Just that he wouldn't leave Commander Skywalker to die." Alice's mouth felt suddenly very dry. She tried to speak, but only a little squeak came out. She cleared her throat and tried again, "Oh. Right. But...he was just being grumpy and rude, right? He wasn't...I mean...is it likely that they…won't make it back?"

An uncomfortable silence prickled in the wake of her question. She caught sight of Aleya, the girl from the canteen standing at Tal's shoulder, anxiously twisting a cloth between her hands and desperately avoiding Alice's eyes. Not exactly reassuring.

"Okay. Alright." Feeling the desperate urge to punch something, Alice went and sat down on a nearby crate, sitting on her hands to prevent any sudden angry outbursts. Artoo rolled over to her, and bleeped softly. "This is just like the Death Star all over again, huh," she said to him, trying to make her voice lighthearted, "those two will insist on throwing themselves into life-threatening situations and…leaving me behind." The astro droid whistled, and Threepio said, tentatively, "Mistress Alice, Artoo says he could try scanning for life-forms nearby."

"Would you, Artoo?" The droid beeped, and nudged her knee gently, "I'll come with you, then. Just let me grab a coat."

"Take mine," Tal said, who had apparently been listening in.

"Alright," she said, after a moment, tugging on the thick, fur-lined coat as he handed it to her and pulling up the hood on the jacket she was already wearing, "thank you. Artoo, Threepio?"

Bracing herself, Alice stepped out of the huge metal doors of the base and into the freezing wind outside. The cold hit her like a slap in the face, clearly felt even through all the layers of clothes she wore. She squinted into the darkness, trying to see throughw the swirls of snow being blown past her nose.

"See anything, guys?"

"Artoo is commencing his scan now."

Alice glanced down as Artoo extended a small scanner from his dome and began to sweep it back and forth, then returned her gaze to the horizon. The sun was slipping further and further in the sky, and she felt her tension increase the closer it got to disappearing. She thought back to that horrible period of waiting on Yavin Four, while the fighters attacked the Death Star. _It always comes down to waiting… _

It really was cold out here. They'd barely been out for two minutes and already Alice's cheeks felt raw from the bite of the icy wind. Her eyes watered and her toes were turning numb.

"Mistress Alice," Threepio said, "perhaps you should wait inside. It is terribly dangerous for humans to be out in sub-zero temperatures for extended periods of time..."

"You don't say," she said, reluctantly turning to shuffle back indoors, "shout if you see anything, okay?"

"I certainly will."

_I never thought I'd call this place warm,_ she thought, as she stepped into the hangar. It felt like a tropical rainforest in comparison to the cold outside. Leia stood nearby, anxiously twisting a pair of thick gloves between her hands.

"Hey," Alice said, going to stand next to her friend, "hear anything on the radio?"

"Nothing," Leia replied.

She sighed, "Yeah. Thought so."

Artoo and Threepio came in only half an hour later, at the insistence of General Rieekan. "There's nothing more we can do tonight," he said, his kindly face twisted with sadness, "The shield doors must be closed."

"You didn't pick up anything?" Alice asked, looking anxiously at Artoo. The little droid buzzed depressingly, and Threepio said, in what was clearly meant to be an encouraging tone, "Well...Artoo does admit that his own range is far too weak to abandon hope entirely."

Behind them, the vast metal doors groaned and creaked as they slid shut, blocking out the rapidly falling snow. The sound they made as they shut had a dreadful tone of finality to it, and in response, Chewie let out a mournful roar, Alice hugged her elbows, and Leia looked away.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	14. In Which Alice Receives a Shock

Hola, amigos! It's my birthday on Friday! Yay!

**Shout-outs** this week go to: **Jedi Everdeen**, and **Taboo22** - as ever, I am much obliged. :) Hope you enjoy this week's chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

* * *

When Alice woke up, it was to find her eyes sore and bleary, and her body uncomfortably cramped. For a moment she couldn't piece together why she wasn't in her bed. Then she remembered that, post Han and Luke going missing the night before and not wanting to leave the control room, she had slept in a chair, where she currently sat.

Leia had tried to talk her into going to bed, but she had flat-out refused, and eventually the princess had given up in disgust. _Perhaps that was a little childish of me,_ Alice thought guiltily as she stretched. She rubbed her eyes, and blinked fiercely. As much as she would like to conceal it, she had cried a little before she fell asleep last night.

_I'm so glad there aren't any mirrors around. I look like a rabbit with conjunctivitis when I cry._

"Alice." Leia's voice came from behind her, and was stiff and tense. Most of that could probably be attributed to the fact that Han and Luke weren't back yet. But Alice still felt she'd behaved badly last night – Leia already had enough to deal with without putting up with a stubborn history student as well. "Um, Leia…listen, I'm sorry if I seemed a little…a little immature last night. It wasn't really very fair to you…I know you're just as worried about Han and Luke as I am."

The princess seemed to consider her words. Then her face softened slightly. "Thank you, Alice. I understand. I'm sorry if I was sharp with you."

Alice laughed, and Leia raised an eyebrow at her quizzically. "What?"

"Nothing," she said, waving her hands around in an impression of a startled hamster, "that just sounded like something an old school teacher of mine would say."

Leia cracked a smile at this, and Alice felt quite proud that she had managed to lighten the mood even a little bit. The princess turned to Alice's friend Lana, who had been on shift overnight and had been the one responsible for eventually stomping over, covering Alice up in a blanket and telling her to shut the hell up. "Have you heard anything from them?"

"Nothing, your majesty," said Lana, typing away at her monitor, "but there is good news. Our engineers have been working through the night and we have managed to adapt the speeders to the climate at last. In the last hour we have sent out a full detachment of troops to search for them."

"So…" Alice stared at Leia, "what do we do now?"

"We wait," Leia replied with a shrug.

Alice huffed, "I hate waiting. Waiting's the worst."

"It's all we can do. Unless you have any better ideas?"

She opened her mouth to retort – then suddenly an idea sprung to mind, and she smiled. "Princess Leia. Your majesty. How would you like to see some gymnastics?"

Alice wasn't quite sure how she ended up putting on a gymnastics show for almost the entire Echo Base, but here she was, wearing the most leotard-esque outfit she could find, being cheered on by an entire platoon of soldiers. They were an excellent audience, shouting, whooping and gasping at appropriate moments, but still, they were a far cry from the normal gymnastics crowd.

She grinned, and raised her hands to quiet them, "Ladies and gentlemen-"

"And droids!" Someone yelled.

"And droids," Alice included, graciously. "For my next trick, a one-handed handstand, wait for it…on this little tiny platform thing!" They all oo-ed and ahh-ed, obviously very eager.

The little platform in question was part of the obstacle course Alice had completed on her second day here, and it was perfect for what Alice planned to do. 'Planned' being the operative word. A one handed handstand on a small circular platform about five feet off the ground wasn't exactly something she'd practiced.

She took a deep breath, and stepped up towards the platform, when suddenly, a single voice rose above the chatter of her audience. "We've found them! We've got them!"

Everyone froze. Then everyone unfroze very loudly and dramatically. In a similar scene of elation to the blowing up of the Death Star, all the rebels gave a massed cheer. They jumped up and down and thumped each other on the back and Alice, shoving her way through the crowd as quickly as possible, shouted to Leia, racing along at her side, "I didn't realise everyone liked Han and Luke so much!"

"Me neither," the princess replied, as they reached the corridor.

"Shall we go and meet them?"

"No time," said Leia, "they'll probably take them straight to the medical bay to check for injuries. Let's go there."

"Right you are."

Alice had to credit it to Leia, she knew the minds of her…employees? Butlers? Followers? _Eh…let's call them troops. She's not exactly leading a cult._ It turned out Luke and Han had just been brought in the second before they arrived.

They found Han relatively quickly, only two rooms down and undergoing a full check-out. He was wrapped in a foil blanket and looked twitchy. "Han! You're alright!"

"Just about, kid," he said tersely, shifting in his seat and jostling the doctor trying to treat him. "Stop fidgeting," Alice chided, stretching a hand out to still him.

"Have you seen Luke yet?" He demanded, pushing her away.

"Not yet," she said, anxiety building, "is it bad?"

"I don't know either, because this _wonderful_ woman isn't letting me go and see him," he said through his teeth, glaring at the doctor. The woman looked unfazed as she pulled her gloves off with a snap, "There. Finished. Now you may go and see your friend."

Han was up and out of the room almost before she'd finished speaking, the blanket she'd given him dropping to the floor as he went. The doctor sighed, and went to pick it up. "Please, make sure he keeps this on?"

"I'll certainly try," said Leia, grimly.

They followed Han along the corridor and into a slightly larger room, dominated by a large, clear tube in the middle. Alice stared at it puzzled, then suddenly realised- "Oh my god!" She threw up her hands to shield her eyes, not sure whether to be more worried about the fact that Luke was floating in a glass tube of water, or embarrassed by the fact that he was wearing more or less nothing.

"Alice?" Leia asked curiously.

"He's…he's ah, scantily clad," Alice said, gulping.

"You are so strange," Leia said, shaking her head, "five minutes ago, you were worrying about his safety, and now you can't look at him because he's not wearing a shirt?"

"Yeah, well, that's me. A walking contradiction." Alice blinked, "Ooh. I think I might just have quoted a '_Panic! At The Disco_' song in an everyday conversation. Winning!"

Han and Leia looked at each other. Alice gave them a thumbs up. "So besides the fact that he's nearly naked and underwater, Luke's okay, right?"

"He should make a full recovery," one of the doctors said.

"Great." Alice smiled brightly, "I'm going to shout at him when he wakes up."

She sat with Luke for the rest of the day, partly out of concern, though partly, if she was honest, from a lack of anything else useful to do. Leia and Han, both busy with other things, came and went, though each always posed the question, 'Any change?' every time they arrived. Eventually, she had to go to bed, but hurried back the next morning to check on him, gathering up Han and Leia as she went.

Leia seemed eager when Alice knocked on her door in the morning, but she took over an hour to get ready. Alice bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, and moaned to Han, "Why is she taking so long?"

"It'll be those ridiculous clothes she wears," Han grumbled, rolling his eyes and yawning like a lion. About ten minutes after this exchange, Leia finally appeared, and Alice dragged the two of them down to the medical centre. Luke was still in his healing tube when they got there, but Alice noticed that the bruises and cuts on the side of his face were much less pronounced than they'd been yesterday.

"Better," the medical droid said in its wheezy voice, "he should be ready to emerge today."

"Like a butterfly," Alice commented. Then she was suddenly attacked by dozens of mental images of Luke prancing around in a butterfly costume and had to stifle a giggle.

Suddenly, in the tube, Luke twitched. Alice jumped, and stared at him beadily. _He's waking up! Yaaaay!_

Luke flailed around a bit more, then suddenly his eyes snapped open. He stared around a bit, bleary-eyed under the water, then pushed off the floor of his tube and up to the surface.

This was apparently a cue for Alice, Han and Leia to be chivvied out of the room, post-haste. "We'll let you know when he's ready to see you."

"Hey, wait!" Alice called, indignant, as the doctors and medical droids swarmed around the tube, entirely blocking Luke from their view.

"Save it, kid," Han said, "you'll get your chance to tell him off."

"Speaking of which," she said, poking him in the chest as they left the medical centre and headed down the hallway – now that Luke was okay, it was acceptable for her to start picking on Han, "you aren't off the hook either, you know. What was with the disappearing act? I'll have you know, Leia was extremely distressed!"

Leia flushed instantly and glared fiercely at Alice, who realised too late that she'd made an error of judgement. "I mean, um…"

"Distressed, were you, princess?" Han asked, looking delighted, "Well, well, what do you know. I guess you do care about me after all."

Leia stuck her nose in the air, and swept off without replying. Alice bit her lip, "Oops. I guess I'm in trouble now."

"Hard to stay out of trouble with that one," Han said, still sounding distinctly pleased with himself.

"You know," said Alice, hesitantly, "you could try to be a little…sweeter to her. I mean, I know you've got the whole bad boy thing going for you, but…just a suggestion."

He eyed her suspiciously for a moment, then shook his head, "Come on. Let's get some breakfast; I'm starving."

"You go," she said, waving a hand, "I should probably try and make peace with Leia. If I can find her…"

_Yeah, because it's a bad idea to have a princess for an enemy…_

Han raised a hand and headed off in the direction of the canteen, while Alice tried to figure out which way Leia had gone. She retraced her steps as far as the medical bay, but got distracted as Tal suddenly popped up in front of her. He was halfway down the corridor, but when she called his name, he stopped, and turned around. "Tal!"

"Alice," he smiled, "how are you?"

"Fine, thanks. Did you hear? They found Luke and Han."

His face brightened, "Have you seen them yet?"

"Well, I've seen Han – no injuries or anything. But Luke was underwater…and wearing Speedos..."

"Huh?"

Alice shook her head, stifling a laugh, "Sorry. I mean, he was in this tube thing, with water in it? And then the doctors took him away. I don't know when I'm going to be allowed to see him. I don't suppose you need a hand with anything, do you? To pass the time?"

He seemed to take pity on her, and smiled, "Sure. Come on."

When they reached the stables, Alice was delighted to find Aleya there, brushing down one of the tauntauns again, which looked rather pleased by all the attention.

"Hey, Aleya."

"Alice," she said, surprised, "what are you doing here? I mean…Commander Skywalker?"

"I'm not allowed to see him yet," said Alice, raising one shoulder in a shrug, "so I came to help out. Need a hand?"

"Um, yes, of course." Aleya handed Alice a brush and directed her to simply mimic her actions. The tauntauns stank even worse up close, but brushing them felt strangely soothing. Alice could almost feel her eyelids drooping. _So this is what people are talking about when they say looking after horses can be like therapy. Well, I am all for this, this is great._

"Alice?" Aleya had a really sweet, shy little voice – luckily, you could tell that it wasn't put on, so it wasn't annoying – and right now she sounded even shyer than normal.

"Yep?"

"Are you and Commander Skywalker…you know?"

Alice raised an eyebrow, "Are we…what?"

"Um…together?"

Alice stopped brushing, a light blush spreading across her cheeks, "No. We're not. At all. Ever. Why does everybody think that?"

"Maybe because you kissed him before he blew up the Death Star? And then you came to Hoth with him? And then you waited outside in the sub-zero temperatures when he went missing? And then-"

"Yes, thank you," Alice cut her off, perhaps a little more forcefully than necessary. _Smart arse._ "Luke's just my friend. That whole…kissing thing was entirely accidental." She coughed awkwardly, and went back to brushing.

"Oh. I see."

And then there was silence, apart from the odd, ducky-roaring sounds of the tauntauns. Alice split her attention between brushing her tauntaun and trying not think about Aleya's intimations about herself and Luke.

"Alice Miller?"

She glanced up to see a random member of the rebellion (she didn't have anything against him, she just didn't know who he was) standing in front of her, an anxious look on his face, "Yes?"

"Doctor Rannera sent me to find you – she says Luke Skywalker is clear for visitors now."

"Great," Alice said, jumping to her feet. She handed her brush to Aleya and said, "See you later."

The other woman didn't reply, just smiled and waved. _Bless_.

Alice hurried to the medical bay – at the moment she arrived, several doctors and a medical droid came streaming out of the main entrance and dispersed through the corridors. At least two of them, she was relatively certain, had been in the room when Luke was taken out of the tube.

Slipping past them, Alice made her way inside and found the same female doctor who'd been examining Han the day before. "Um, excuse me…Doctor Rannera?"

The woman looked up, "Yes?"

"Luke Skywalker? Is it okay for me to see him now?"

"Yes, he's just woken up. He's in that room just down there."

"Thank you. Oh, by the way? The way you dealt with Han yesterday? Awesome. Give me a high five." The woman clearly had no idea what Alice had just said, but gamely raised her hand as directed and allowed Alice to high-five her.

Her work spreading modern Earth customs done, Alice headed in the direction the doctor had pointed. She hesitated outside the door, then slammed her hand against the opening switch.

With a hiss, the door to the hospital room slid open, and Alice peered inside. It was a large white room, dominated by a narrow, uncomfortable-looking bed right in the middle.

Luke was stationed on it, facing away from her and thankfully fully clothed. From what she could see of his face, he looked slightly paler than normal, and more tired. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, letting the door slide shut behind her.

Luke looked up abruptly, and everything she knew about how to talk to people simply fell out of her head. She opened her mouth, made an odd garbling noise that was half sigh, and shut it again. He stared at her. She stared back. _Why…why am I so socially inept?_

She tried again to speak and managed to get out, "How are you?"

He shrugged one shoulder, as if nearly dying of exposure was an everyday occurrence. "Tired. But not too sore. And you?"

"Um, alright, yeah. Well. A little annoyed actually."

"Annoyed?" He frowned, puzzled, "Why?"

"Because you went off and got yourself nearly frozen and now I can't really shout at you because you're still ill." He looked slightly worried, and she said, quickly, "I mean, I only want to shout at you because I thought you might be dead. It's all in good fun, um…anyway. Basically, I'm glad you're okay."

"Oh." He still looked slightly concerned, though whether for himself or for her, she couldn't tell. "Well, thanks. I'm glad you're okay too."

Another awkward silence fell. _Why is it that our conversations are pretty much characterised by awkward silences?_

She hesitated, then shuffled over and leaned against a cabinet opposite his bed, "Do you mind?"

"No, you go ahead."

"You're making quite a habit of this running off and getting yourself into trouble, you know," she said, shaking a finger disapprovingly at him, "it's not good."

"I suppose," he said, guiltily. "I'm sorry, Alice. I didn't mean to upset you…or Leia."

"Mm," she hummed, trying to ignore the way he sort of lingered on Leia's name. "What actually happened though?"

"I got attacked by a wampa. It knocked me out then killed and ate my tauntaun."

"Oh," she said, blinking, "wampas sounding a lot less funny all of a sudden…"

He cracked a smile at that, then winced as the motion tugged at the still-healing scars on his face. "Oh," Alice said, guiltily, "sorry. Is it…?" Before she could really think about what she was doing, she reached out her hand and sort of…brushed his jaw with her fingertips. _What the…? Um…_

He glanced down at her hand, now hovering about a centimetre from his face, then looked up and met her eyes with his blue ones, with an expression she couldn't quite read… _Hold up. Wait. What?_

"Master Luke! We were told that you were now well enough to receive visitors and we- oh…"

Alice snatched her hand away from Luke's face instantly, and felt a hot blush spread its way all over her face as though someone had just flung tea at her. _I have got to learn to control that reaction_.

"Hey guys," Luke said as if nothing had just happened, turning to Threepio and Artoo, who had apparently just walked (or rolled) stealthily into the room, "it's good to see you."

"I'm just so glad that you're once again fully functional," Threepio said, with typical tact. Artoo beeped, and the golden droid went on, "Artoo expresses his relief also."

"How're ya feeling, kid? You don't look so bad to me." Han came striding in, Chewie firmly in tow, and Alice instantly took it upon herself to avoid his gaze at all costs as she said, "Of course not. He looks fine."

"Thanks to you," Luke said, quite seriously to Han. She glanced up at them tentatively – Han crouched by Luke's bedside like a father with his son, and Luke gazing at the older man with respect and gratitude. _Naaaw. Bromance!_

"That's two you owe me, junior," Han said, teasingly. There was a rustle from the other side of the room, and Alice glanced up to see Leia standing quietly by the door, watching them. Immediately, she started sending Leia '_I'm really sorry for implying that you were upset about Han, I severely miscalculated_' thought waves. Leia met her eyes and smiled in a warm, forgiving manner. Alice grinned. _Female telepathy rocks._

"Well your worship," Han said loudly, "seems you managed to keep me around for a little while longer."

"_I _had nothing to do with it," Leia said, with a hint of superiority, "General Rieekan thinks it's too dangerous to let any ships leave the system until we activate the energy shield."

"Well, that's a good story," he said, mockingly, "but I think you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight."

"Han," Alice muttered, seeing Leia's lips tighten and sensing danger, "drop it."

"Thank you, Alice," Leia said, still glaring at Han, "but it's alright. It's obvious that laserbrain here is deluding himself."

Chewbacca snickered and Han raised his eyebrows at him, "That's right, laugh it up, fuzz ball. But none of you," he gestured to the three of them, "saw us in the South Passage, where she expressed her true feelings for me."

Alice snorted, "Han, trust me, you are seriously pushing your luck here."

"Ally," Han said, rolling his eyes, "come on, I think that-"

"No, no, she's absolutely right, you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder!"

Han's mouth dropped open in a pantomime of shock and outrage, "Who's scruffy-looking?" He leaned down next to Luke, who looked far from happy with the current topic of conversation. Desperate to stop Han's mad escapade to make everyone annoyed at him, Alice tried one last time, "Han, seriously. Shut up."

Ignoring her, Han cocked his thumb at Leia and said, "Wow, must have hit close to the mark to get her all riled up like that."

Alice glanced twitchily at Leia, who looked icily furious. "Well," she said, striding towards Luke's bed – it was getting quite crowded with all of them gathered round it like this. "I guess you don't know everything about women yet." And with that she leaned in and kissed Luke. Properly. On the mouth.

Alice stared, her own mouth dropping open. Han's expression was surprisingly similar. _What? No! No, this is…so wrong! I don't even know where to start with this one!_

"Uh…but…you…wha-?"

Leia broke the kiss, and straightened up a flush already spreading across her pale cheeks. Then without a word, the princess turned and left the room, leaving Alice with a stunned Han and a slightly smug Luke.

She shut her mouth with a snap, glanced between the two of them, and said, slowly, "I'm…I think I'm going to…go away now." She was halfway to the door when the PA system in the room crackled into life. Alice missed most of what it was saying, but across the room, Luke and Han stirred, apparently hearing something relevant to them.

"What?" She said at once, "What did it say? I didn't hear."

"Come on," Han said, beckoning her. "Take it easy," he directed at Luke. Alice glanced briefly at Luke as they left – and was pleased to see he had decency enough to look slightly guilty as their eyes met.

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**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	15. The Dating Game

Hello once again! Sorry this is slightly late; I've had the worst cold/flu the last couple of days, as a result of staying up too late and waking up too early during my school's performance of _The Sound of Music. _:P

This weeks **shout-outs** go to: **someone**, **ThatGirlWhoLovesELO **(great name, and happy belated birthday!) and **Tab****oo22**. Thank you, as always, for reviewing. :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

* * *

Han and Alice walked out of the medical centre in silence. They made it most of the way down the corridor before Alice couldn't hold it in anymore, "Sorry, can we talk about the fact that Leia kissed Luke? I am not okay with this. Are you okay with it? Because I'm really not."

"What's there to say?" Han asked gruffly, "It was Leia's revenge that's all. We got what we deserved."

"Hang on," Alice said, mystified, "how did _I _deserve it? What did I do? You were being a jerk, but I was totally guiltless."

"Oh sure."

"What? What have I done?"

"I…don't know the answer to that."

"Damn right you don't."

It wasn't till they reached the control room that Alice realised it was actually their destination. "So what did that announcement thing say?"

"They were telling me to come to the control room."

"So why did I have to come?" Alice made a face, "Now I'm going to have to stand in a room with Leia and pretend that I don't think she's being a total- I mean…a bit fickle at the moment."

"Did you really want to stay with Luke?"

"…Fair point."

"Captain Solo." An orderly hailed them from nearby, and the two of them paused to listen to her, "Princess Leia and General Rieekan are waiting for you." She pointed them across the room and went back to her work.

Alice said, "Wow. Concise."

They squeezed through the maze of screens, and reached Leia and General Rieekan, who, with the operator of that monitor, were studying one of the holographic screens intently.

"Captian Solo, Private Miller. We've picked up something outside the base. Zone Twelve, and moving east."

"It's metal," the operator said, tapping furiously at his little keyboard.

"Then it couldn't be one of those creatures," Leia said, in a tone that made it more of a statement than a question.

"Could be a speeder," suggested Han, "one of ours?"

The operator pressed a hand to the headset he wore, and shook his head, "No. Wait." He paused, listening, and they all leaned in, waiting. "There's something very weak coming through."

A stream of meaningless babble played briefly over the speakers, and Alice huffed, "Come on, that's ridiculous. Who could possibly understand that-"

"Sir, I am fluent in over six million forms of communication and this signal is not used by the Alliance." Everyone turned to stare at Threepio, standing unobtrusively at one of the other screens. "It could be an Imperial code."

They all turned back to face each other. "I retract my earlier statement," Alice said.

Han twitched, then said, "It isn't friendly, whatever it is. Come on Chewie, let's check it out."

"You're joking, right?" Alice said, planting herself in his path before he could leave, "You only just survived your last little expedition. What makes you think I'm going to let you go out again?"

"It's not up to you, kid," he said, dismissively, "you're only a private. I'm the captain."

"Ha!" She poked him in the chest, "Like that means anything."

"Alice, could you-" Suddenly, his eyes lit up with what was unmistakeably an idea. And in Alice's experience, all of Han's ideas so far had been bad. (Han's ideas thus-far: chasing down that stray Imperial fighter, dressing up as a storm trooper, and following Luke into a snow-storm on an ice planet.) In light of these incidents, seeing a similar crafty look on his face wasn't particularly encouraging.

"Han," she said slowly, "What are you-"

Before she could finish speaking, in full view of General Rieekan, Chewie, and most importantly, Leia, Han kissed Alice.

_OH. MY. GOD._

Her brain seemed to freeze for about three seconds, then suddenly kicked into overdrive, babbling at breakneck speed just to fill the awkward silence. _Well, this is all very sudden – what in the name of hell is he doing? I don't understand, I thought that he…I mean…Luke…gosh, it really is very quiet, isn't it, what's happened to all the noise-?_

Right on cue, a vague choking sound broke into the mess of Alice's thoughts, and she realised very suddenly it had been about twenty seconds and Han was still kissing her and- _oh my god, he's kissing me and Leia is right there._

Grabbing her brain with both hands (metaphorically, obviously – her real hands were, for some unfathomable reason, clutching the lapels of Han's jacket in a death grip), Alice somehow managed to regain her senses and break the kiss. She shoved Han away from her, guiltily taking in the shocked faces of their audience.

"Are you crazy?" Alice hissed at Han as she stared at Leia's blank, unreadable expression over his shoulder, "Leia's going to kill me!"

"A kiss for a kiss, sweetheart," he whispered back, clearly delighted with himself, "let's see how she likes it." He surveyed her inevitably flushed cheeks, and said, cockily, "Besides, you seemed to be enjoying yourself."

She could only stare at him, caught between fury and amazement. Taking advantage of her silence, he chucked her under the chin and stole another quick kiss, before saying, "Don't worry, kid. I'll be back before you know it."

Then he just strode away, leaving Alice standing lamely where she was, her lips tingling slightly and her face bright red.

_Dear god. I have never been so mortified in my entire life. Not even that time when I had to play the angel Gabriel in the school nativity and my halo got set on fire by my candle and then I had to jump in the donkey's trough of water to put myself out. And then I accidentally pulled the shepherds in too. Actually…that was pretty damn embarrassing. Make this my second most embarrassing moment ever._

"Uhhh…so, ah…" Alice searched desperately for something to do, anything other than just standing there like a lemon… "General." She snapped to attention and stared madly at General Rieekan, hoping he would get the hint. "Orders?"

"Ah…" He glanced apprehensively at Leia, who was still standing absolutely frozen on the other side of the screen, "yes. Private Miller, please escort the princess…" Alice shook her head frantically, and he backtracked at once, "I mean, please alert the speeder pilots that they may need to have their craft ready for an assault. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." And then, because she didn't really know how to march, she wheeled around and to her eternal shame, skipped out of the room.

When Alice had completed her mission, so to speak, she simply hung around the main hangar, waiting for Han to come back, and dwelling obsessively on her own guilty conscience._ Han kissed me! In front of Leia! Oh, god…I am a shameless hussy! When did this happen? And by the way, how is it fair that back at home no boy looked at me for nineteen years then all of a sudden, I'm being used as some kind of decoy duck?_ She started to pace, grumbling irritably under her breath as she went.

"Mistress Alice?"

"Not now, Threepio," Alice gritted through her teeth.

"But this really is rather-"

"Dude!" She spun to face the droid, flinging her arms up in the air, "Can't you see I'm angst-ing!"

"Hey, kid!"

"Han!" He and Chewie were crossing the hangar to get to her, Han pulling off his outdoor gear and flinging it grimly aside as he went. For a moment, Alice struggled with the need to demand, in fuller detail what he'd been playing at just now, against the desire to know what he'd found in the snow. It would appear that indignation and guilt were the stronger emotions.

As Han reached her, Alice drew back her arm and slapped him hard across the face.

"Ah!"

_Owwww!_

Pressing his hand to his cheek, Han yelled, outraged, "What the hell was that?"

"You kissed me!" Alice accused him, nursing her stinging palm, "You bastard!"

"Yeah!" He agreed, angrily, "And if that's how you react to one little kiss, you can be damn sure I won't be doing it again!"

"That was not a 'little kiss'," Alice said, narrowing her eyes, "that was…it was…" He raised his eyebrows sardonically while she searched for the right word. Eventually she came up with: "Inappropriate!"

"I'll think you find we have bigger problems," he said, turning away from her and ducking under the _Falcon _to inspect it.

"Why?" She said, moodily.

"That unidentifiable metal object?" He said, his voice echoing slightly and conveying perfectly his sarcastic tone, "Imperial probe droid. It was spying on us. They're already on their way – control room's just reported a number of AT-ATs approaching."

"What's an…AT-AT?"

"All Terrain Armoured Transport. Not pretty," Han said, grimly.

Alice huffed, "So what now?"

"General Rieekan's ordered an evacuation. The quicker we can get everyone out, the better. The speeder pilots are acting as a rear guard to slow the Imperial troops down when they get here."

"Right. What should I do?"

There was a pause, then he reappeared from under the _Falcon_, a smudge of oil on his cheek. "Do?"

"Yeah," she said, in a 'duh' tone, "Private Miller reporting for duty."

"What you do, kid, is you get on the first transport to go and you stay on it."

"What? No!" She bristled, "I'm not doing the waiting thing again. I hate it."

"I ain't asking, kid, I'm telling you. _Captain_ Solo, remember? Besides, there's nothing you can do, and you know it." He headed over to the Millennium Falcon and hoisted himself up on to its wing, calling down to Chewie, "We've got to get the old girl working, buddy, as quickly as possible, you hear me?"

The wookiee roared, and boarded the ship, leaving Alice to shout up at Han, "Wait…so you're leaving again? I mean…you're actually going?"

"Seems as good a time as any," he called down to her, "and the sooner I pay off Jabba the Hutt the better."

"So will you come back, once you've paid?"

She got nothing but silence in response, and huffed, "Somehow I knew you were going to say that." Still more silence. Alice folded her arms, "You know, you can't just go around kissing people and then abandon them to their fate."

"Will you drop it?" He said, glaring at her from the wing of the ship, "You know why I kissed you, kid, it was to make Leia jealous."

"I know," Alice retorted, "and I therefore will rephrase my argument thus: you can't just go around making people jealous and then abandon them to their fate. Not to mention, you're leaving me to deal with the fallout here. It's simply not acceptable behaviour."

He rolled his eyes and disappeared again, "Stop trying to make me guilty, kid, it ain't gonna work. You know me, I'm a criminal. A mercenary. I look out for myself and nobody else."

"Well that was very convincing," Alice said, with mock sincerity, "yeah, I'm convinced."

"Alice?"

"Luke," Alice whipped round, half-wondering if he'd heard what they were saying, and feeling slightly guilty. Then she stopped, staring at him in surprise. "What are you doing?" He was wearing his orange flight suit, and looked ready to charge into battle.

"I'm part of the rear guard of speeders."

"Of course you are." _He was in intensive medical care this morning! He's going to die, the stupid boy_. Feeling slightly reckless and over emotional, Alice made a gigantic sweeping gesture, and said, "Well, since we're all splitting up, you'd better say your goodbyes."

He frowned, "What?"

Alice turned and called loudly into the ship, "Chewie! Come say goodbye to Luke!"

"Oh." His face fell a little, but he didn't seem surprised. Alice folded her arms and watched as Chewie, poking his head out of the _Falcon_, ran to give Luke a woolly hug. "You take care of yourself, big guy," Luke said, ruffling the wookiee's fur. He stepped out from under the wing to peer up at Han, who had reappeared when Luke came over.

"Hey kid. You alright?"

"Yeah."

A period of meaningful stares ensued here. Alice watched, bemused by the manly emotion passing between the two. _God, could they be more of a couple?_

After about two minutes had passed though, it was getting a bit boring, just standing there, and clearing her throat, Alice said, loudly, "Well. If we're all done hugging," she stared pointedly up at Han, "and _kissing_…?"

He glared down at her, clearly incensed, "Alright, what is it?"

"What?"

"Why are you so worked up about this?"

Alice said, with feigned innocence, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Can't let it go, huh?" He dropped down off the edge of the wing and moved forward until he was uncomfortably close to Alice, towering over her, "You really need to get over yourself, kid."

She gaped at him, outraged, "_I _need to get over myself? What about you, you pompous idiot!" She placed a palm against his chest and shoved him backwards, "Everything always has to be about you, with your stupid jokes and your…kissing!"

"Calm down!" Luke said sharply, looking alarmed as he grabbed each of them by the shoulder and shoved them back a step. Alice shrugged his hand away and continued to glare at Han, who also ignored Luke, and said, acidly, "You know, I think I know why you're upset, sweetheart."

"Why?" Alice spat back.

"You wish I kissed you for you!"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, I think you liked it, sister!"

"You- you're so-!"

"You…kissed her?"

Alice and Han froze at once. _Um…yeah. Forgot he wasn't there for that bit. Awkward…_

Together, they turned guiltily to look at Luke. Alice could just feel the blush of shame creeping down her neck, and saw that, beneath his stubble, Han was rather on the pink side too.

"Um…yeah. He did. Yeah. But-"

"You know," Han said, glancing at Alice for support, where two seconds ago they'd been squabbling like cats, "it was just a…"

Alice picked up where he left off, gesturing awkwardly, "It was just one of those…um, friend…kisses."

"Oh." Luke looked at them both quietly, his face blank, "Right." He fixed his gaze on Alice, opened his mouth as if to say something, hesitated, then just went with, "See you soon." And then he walked off, cuing an appropriately mournful whine from Chewie.

_What? "See you soon"? That's it? Damn it._

"Um…"

They looked at each other, more than a little speechless. Alice ran a hand uncomfortably through her hair, rocking backwards and forwards on her toes. Han cleared his throat. Then they both said at the same time, "Sorry."

Alice laughed sheepishly, and patted Han on the arm, "Let's…not do this again."

"Good call," he said, rubbing at his cheek and not looking at her, "but jeez kid, you're almost more of a wildcat than Leia is."

"Ha ha," she said, lifting her eyes to the ceiling, "fancy that."

"Mistress Alice?" She looked up and saw Threepio, who'd presumably been hovering somewhere or other this entire time, turning away from a rebel soldier, who hurried off across the hangar towards one of the remaining speeders, "Princess Leia requests you join her in the control room."

"Right," Alice said, nodding, "okay. Well then." She glanced at Han, and realised with a rush of sadness that he was leaving – this might well be the last time they saw each other. Trying to play it cool, she punched him lightly on the shoulder, "Well, goodbye then, dear. If we don't see each other again, I think you should know that you were the most annoying smuggler I've ever flown with."

"And you were one of the most annoying passengers I've ever smuggled," he replied, reaching out to ruffle her hair a tad condescendingly. "Be careful out there kid. It's a big, bad universe."

She snorted and stepped away from him, "Trust me, you don't have to tell me that. Tell Chewie goodbye for me. Come on, Threepio. Let's rock."

Alice could feel Han's eyes on her back as she walked away, and she had to struggle not to look back at him.

_Come on, Alice, stay strong – you can do this. Putting aside the fact that you're saying goodbye to one of the four or so friends you have in the entire galaxy…_

She marched through the base, and finally came to a halt face to face with Leia, just outside the entrance of the command centre. _Huh. Why isn't she inside, bossing people around like normal?_

"Threepio, go and assist General Rieekan."

The droid jumped, glanced anxiously at Alice, then did as he was told. _Gosh. This is dramatic._

Leia met Alice's eyes, and said, seriously, "Alice-"

"Before you say anything," Alice said, cutting her off at once, "I would just like to point out that _he _kissed _me. _It was absolutely not my idea."

Leia smiled grimly, "As much as I would like to…discuss this with you now, and possibly punch Captain Solo in the face, we really don't have time." These words were verified by a loud crunching, boom that echoed through the corridor, and a light trickle of snow that sprinkled itself onto their heads. "So for now, all I'll say is that I think that we should put any differences aside until we're safely out of here."

Alice gazed at her apprehensively, "Soo…what you're saying is…you're not going to kill me?"

Leia grimaced, "I may not have to. Now should we perhaps go and help direct the battle that might determine whether we live or die today?"

"Sounds good to me."

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**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	16. By the Light of the Asteroid

Hey guys - sorry for the delay. AS Mocks are a killer. Hope you've all had a merry time since we spoke last. :)

This week's **shout-outs** go to: **Taboo22**, **SerenityMoonPrincess **and **ThatGirlWhoLoves****ELO**. Thanks again for reviewing!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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Alice and Leia headed into the control room, and were immediately called over by General Rieekan. The room was already starting to show the impact of the Imperial attack going on above it – several screens had been smashed by the shockwaves caused by the Imperial walkers, and in some places, hairline cracks were forming on the ceiling.

Alice kept a careful eye on these as she followed Leia down the narrow aisles between the work stations, picking her way over the sparking wreckage of a holo-table. "Princess, the snow-speeders are away. There are Imperial walkers are gaining ground. They're almost at our front line." An ominous rumble punctuated his words.

"How many?"

"Four, your highness. Most of the transports are out, but I don't think we can protect two at once."

"I know it's risky," Leia said grimly, "but we can't hold out much longer. We've got to get as many of the troops out as possible."

He nodded, "Very well. Launch the patrol."

"So what's happening again?" Alice asked, glancing at Leia.

"The Empire is trying to take out our shield generators so they can destroy us from above. All we need to do is hold them off until everyone is out."

The ceiling suddenly gave a violent shake. Alice wobbled, and glanced up. Cracks were spider-webbing through the rock ceiling with a rough snapping noise, marking out a large chunk that if it fell would land directly on-

"Leia!" Alice lunged forward and shoved her friend to one side just as the chunk of ceiling gave way with a furious crack. Dust exploded up from the floor, blinding them all momentarily. Coughing, Alice blinked furiously until her vision cleared. The boulder had crushed one of the screens, but no one was injured.

"Phew," she said, relieved, "that was close." Leia looked shocked, but managed to say, "Thank you, Alice."

"Not a problem. Gosh, I feel just like Lara Croft."

"Ally? Leia? You alright?"

To Alice's acute surprise, Han came leaping in over the rubble and stumbled towards them. Leia's expression sharpened immediately, her eyes narrowing to slits that Alice didn't think had anything to do with the dust still hanging in the air, "What are you still doing here?"

"Heard they were targeting the command centre."

"You've got your clearance to leave," Leia snapped, getting to her feet.

"Don't worry," Han said, reaching forward and grabbing the princess by the arm, "I'll leave. But first I'm going to get you to your ship."

"Princess," Threepio put in, clearly worried, "we must take this last transport. It's our only hope."

Leia tugged her arm away from Han and strode off to the other side of the room, shouting instructions to the remaining orderlies.

Alice expected Han to get angry with Leia, to yell at her or something. But as it was, he was surprisingly gentle. He put a hand on her shoulder, and turned her around, "Come on, that's it." Somehow, even with grumpy Imperial soldiers shooting at them and the building falling apart and Luke somewhere out in the middle of a battle, Alice managed to crack a smile at this. _Han Solo: The Softer Side._

"Give the evacuation signal, and get to your transports," Leia said, with an air of desperation. Han allowed her this last order, then pulled her away, grabbing Alice's hand as he passed her.

They hurried down the corridors, most of them in darkness, the lights burned out or broken. The walls and floors trembled as the Imperial walkers or whatever they were called got closer and closer to the entrance of the base. "This isn't the way to the main hangar," Alice panted as they ran.

"The transports are in a secondary bay," Han called back over his shoulder, "thought they'd be safer there."

Suddenly, there was a sharp crack, and ahead of them, the ceiling of the tunnel simply caved in. Han shoved Alice and Leia back against the wall, crouching protectively over them. Alice yelped as she bumped her elbow on the concrete, a cry that was stifled a moment later as she toppled face first into a snow drift and got a mouthful of the white powder. _Well that's pleasant. Then again, it's this or being crushed by a tonne of snow – this is probably better._

Spluttering, Alice stumbled to her feet, leaning heavily against the wall for balance. Han pulled a com link from his belt and said quickly, "Transport? This is Solo. You'd better take off, I can't get to you. We'll get out on the _Falcon_." He put the device away and helped Leia up, dragging her past Alice back the way they'd come, "Come on."

_God…all this running is going to be the death of me._

She chased after them, and grabbed hold of Threepio, still trying to catch up with them as she passed him. They made their way to the main hangar where the _Millennium Falcon_ waited for them. Chewie was dancing anxiously around by it, and Alice flashed him a grin as they reached him, "What, you didn't think we weren't coming, did you, fuzzy?"

He gave a wail of relief, and scooping both her and Threepio up at once, he carried them both on board.

"Well, it's good to be back, isn't it?" Alice said cheerfully as Chewie set them down in the cockpit, "The only thing missing is-" She stopped, horror-struck. "Leia!" The princess, followed by Han, came racing into the room, "Yes?"

"What about Luke? He's got a ship, yeah? I mean, he can get off the planet?"

"Yes, yes of course," Leia said, avoiding her eyes. Alice stared at her, "Oh no."

"What?"

"You're not telling me something. What is it?"

Leia shifted uncomfortably for a moment, then said reluctantly, "The last we heard over the com link was that Luke's speeder had been shot down."

"What?" Han spat, jerking his head up from where he was working on jump-starting the _Falcon's _engines, "Why does no one tell me these things?!"

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Leia insisted, "but right now we need to get out of here!"

Han stared at her, then furiously turned back to the console, and started banging away at it. Alice flinched at the noise, and started chewing the inside of her cheek nervously.

"Can't you get this thing started?" Leia said, clearly letting out her concern for Luke as anger at Han.

"I'm trying!"

For a moment, the console hummed, and the various switches on the walls and ceiling began to glow. Then they flickered off again. Han bashed the wall hard with his fist. They came back on.

Alice felt a twist of nausea. "Oh boy…"

"This bucket of bolts will never get us past the blockade!"

Han took his seat, "This baby's got a few surprises left in her, sweetheart."

"Sometimes I think you're a little too generous to the _Falcon_, Han," Alice said apprehensively, staring up at the rusty walls, "I mean, she's great…but she's basically a Ford Prefect…"

Han ignored her, pressing buttons frantically. Out of the front view screen, Alice saw a bunch of people dressed up in white ninja costumes with guns come running towards them. Han grabbed a joystick, twisted it and slammed down a switch. Lasers, presumably from a hidden gun somewhere on the _Falcon_ came flying out of nowhere and mowed down a whole row of soldiers.

"See?" Han said, trying for a carefree grin but clearly a little too stressed to pull it off.

"One day you're going to be wrong and I just hope I'm there when it happens," Leia grumbled, sitting down in the seat behind Han's.

"Punch it," he said, to Chewie. Slowly, a little too slowly for Alice's liking, the _Falcon_ started to move. She was leaning forwards, trying to see out the front window when she saw him. Darth Vader. He stood across the hangar, watching as his troops were shot down trying to stop them taking off.

She could tell from the sudden stillness of the others that they'd seen him too. She let out a jerky breath, her eyes fixed on the black-cloaked figure. It was weird, even though they were half a room away from each other, it felt like he was watching her; the hair on the back of her neck prickled, and goosebumps crept down her arms.

"_I can see you."_

Alice jerked backwards, her eyes wide, her breath coming in quick startled pants. _What the hell…?_

Han spared her a glance as he frantically rattled the controls, trying to get them airborne. Leia however, reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Err, Alice? Are you alright? Alice?"

"Umm…" She tried to explain that she'd just heard Darth Vader speak to her, over the sound of laser blasts and Han's cursing and the whole of Echo Base collapsing, but her voice was lost as the _Falcon_ finally managed to lumber into the air and go sailing out of the far end of the hangar, past the Imperial troops still firing at them.

The tense silence endured as they flew over the crumbling remains of the rebel base, which was littered with the smoking wrecks of several of their speeders. Alice swallowed, thinking of Luke. Leia seemed to guess what she was thinking about, and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, "I'm sure he's fine."

"Sure." She put a hand to her stomach, which, for some reason, was roiling with nausea, "Hey, I don't feel very well. I think I'm going to go lie down…"

Han glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyebrows drawn down in concern, "Take my cabin, kid." She nodded, and got to her feet, stumbling slightly as the ship rocked. Han growled, and added, "Make sure you're strapped in nice and tight. It's going to get rough."

Alice's stomach lurched, and she clapped a hand to her mouth, "Oh joy…"

BREAK

It took Alice a moment to remember where exactly she was when she next opened her eyes. She was lying down, in a cramped, narrow bed, in a cramped, narrow room. _Huh…well. I love the bed. Where am I?_

"Han? Leia?" It was dark, with only a faint pulsing of red and green bulbs on the floor and walls. Alice sat up cautiously, blinking blearily in an attempt to suddenly gain night vision. Slowly, as her eyes began to adjust, she glanced around, and spotted her boots and belt lying on the floor by the foot of the bed. The sight of her belongings sparked her memory, and she relaxed. _Ah. Right. Han's cabin._

Pulling on her shoes and clipping her belt around her waist, she got to her feet, and crossed the room unsteadily. It took her a moment to locate the opening switch for the door in the dark, and when she did, the light from outside nearly blinded her. With one hand covering her face, she called, tentatively, "Threepio? Chewie? Hellooooo…"

"Mistress Alice!" The golden droid poked his head around the corner, his voice expressing a certain degree of relief, which she thought was really quite touching.

"Threepio! I never thought I'd be so ridiculously over-excited to see your face! How are you?"

"My current state of being is…tolerable, thank you. I must say, that Captain Solo has led us into a real mess this time, though, Mistress."

"Oh? Well, that's reassuring…"

"Ally!" Han appeared in the doorway, "You alright kid? You didn't throw up in my room did you?"

"Charming," she said, wrinkling her nose, "and no I did not. I just felt rubbish that's all. M'fine now." _No thanks to the velvet-voiced Darth Vader popping in to say hi. Give me Ben Kenobi any day. _"So what happened? Where are we now exactly?"

"We're on an asteroid, a big one, in the middle of an asteroid field. I reckon we'll be safe here for a little while…"

She raised her eyebrows, "Safe from what, pray tell?"

"A couple of Imperial star destroyers. You know, the usual."

"Ah."

"Alice! How are you?"

"Doing okay," she told Leia, noting that despite her concerned expression, the princess looked rather cross at the moment. Han, by contrast, seemed positively chirpy. _Aha. I wonder what's been going on there then._ "I hear we're doing temporary time on an asteroid."

"Yes," said Leia, sounding as though she strongly disapproved of this, "it was Han's idea."

"Who else?" Alice said, trying to stop herself from grinning, "So how long are we stuck here exactly?"

"Who said we're stuck?" Han broke in, indignant.

"I definitely heard a 'stuck' implied in there somewhere."

Han hmphed, and Leia said, "We're trying to fix the hyper drive so we can make the jump to light speed and get off this rock."

"Perfect," Alice said, clapping her hands cheerfully together, "now, what not technologically-related task do you have in mind for me?"

Han and Leia glanced at each other. "You could…no…"

"How about…wait, that probably wouldn't…"

"Perhaps you should just take it easy," Han suggested after a moment. Alice stuck her tongue out at him, "I'll stick with Leia actually, if that's alright. I'm quite good at identifying obscure tools now."

"Come on then." She poked Han in the chest as she followed Leia out of the room, and he grinned fondly at her, "Good to have you back kid."

And, because it was required by some kind of unspoken law, Alice said, "Good to be back."

Some half an hour later, and she stood at Leia's side, watching idly as Leia expertly scorched something with a blowtorch. Bored, and with Leia having (politely) refused all offers of help, Alice decided it was time to investigate her suspicions about Leia and one Han Solo.

"So," she hedged, eyeing Leia carefully in case she suddenly got defensive and turned on her with the welding tool, "you and Captain Solo, eh?"

"What?" Leia said, with a deafness that Alice was relatively sure was feigned.

"Well," she said, innocently, "I'm just saying that you two seem even more liable to annoy each other than usual, which I can't help but think means there is some kind of attraction there."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leia said, though her cheeks were quite distinctly pink, even in the gloom of the weird little cupboard she'd led them into.

Alice grinned to herself, "Okay. Whatever you say."

Leia didn't deign to respond to this, and went back to fixing whatever it was she was fixing. Alice heard a faint tap, and glancing up, spotted Han standing in the doorway. He gave her a meaningful glare, and jerked his head to the side, indicating for her to scram. She smiled mischievously, and got to her feet, saying nonchalantly to Leia, "Hey, I'm just going to go and check with Threepio about the old food situation. You want anything?"

"I'm fine."

"Okey dokey. See you later, alligator. And before you ask, yup, that's just something we say on Gallifrey. Because we're cool like that."

She headed off down the adjoining corridor, but glanced back over her shoulder just in time to see Han stepping in and leaning down to talk to Leia. She grinned to herself, _He's bold, I've got to give him that._

She poked her head out of an opening to her left, and found herself back in the main corridor where Chewie and Threepio were working. "Hey guys," she said brightly, "how's it going?"

"Well, I don't know where to start," Threepio said huffily, "this ship's computer really is one of the coarsest I've come across."

Alice held back her laughter, knowing it would only make the protocol droid more cross, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that, old chum."

He cocked his head on one side, "If you don't mind me saying so, Mistress Alice, you seem unusually cheerful all of a sudden."

"Do I?" She asked, smiling, "I can't think why."

He turned back to his work, still grumbling, "Well, it can't be because of this blasted situation we're in – stranded in an asteroid field with no working hyper drive. It really is typical of Captain-" A loud beep echoed through the corridor, and Threepio gave a well-mannered cry of triumph, "Hurrah! Sir, sir!"

"Wait, Threepio, don't!" But before Alice could stop him, the droid had ambled round the corner and interrupted Han and Leia in the middle of a passionate kiss. _Ohhh, spacey-wacey awkward situation number one…getting caught kissing by the protocol droid…_

Han turned grumpily to face Threepio, who was somehow clueless as to what he'd just done, and Alice saw Leia slip away deeper into the bowels of the ship, her head down.

A moment later, Han stalked out past Threepio and went to criticise Chewie for a bit. Alice bit her lip as she glanced first the way that Leia had gone, then after Han. _Who to follow?_

After a moment's thought, she decided there was no point in going after Han – it wasn't like he ever listened to her anyway. _Let's hope Leia's not in too bad a mood…_

Shaking her head, she headed off down the corridor after Leia, pausing to wander over to Threepio and give the droid a smack on the arm as she passed, "Numpty."

"Well, I never!"

She made her way to the cockpit – Leia would probably be there since it was as far as she could get from Han without physically leaving the ship. True to her own suspicion, she found Leia sitting in the co-captain's chair, staring moodily out of the front window.

"Hey," Alice said tentatively, closing the door behind her as she slipped inside. "Want to chat?"

Leia started when she came in, but when she realised who it was, she seemed to relax. "Oh. Hello, Alice."

Unsure if this was a 'yes' to the chat, Alice sidled forward and sat down in Han's chair, twisting awkwardly backwards and forwards, and half-hoping that Leia wouldn't say anything to her. No such luck.

"I just don't understand that man sometimes."

"Han, you mean?"

"Yes," Leia said, exasperated, "it's so frustrating. Because it should be so easy to read him, but it's not. And he's just so stubborn…"

"Kind of like you," Alice said, without thinking. Leia stared at her. She stared back, one hand covering her mouth. "Sorry. Um…I just meant…that…ah…"

"No, you're right," the princess said, waving away Alice's anxiety, "I am stubborn. As stubborn as he is. Perhaps that's why…"

She shook herself, and made a face, as if she was no more comfortable with this touchy feely stuff than Alice was. But never the less, she persisted, saying, "Alice, I want you to know…that, that kiss with Luke…I wasn't…you know that I'm not trying to-"

"Oh yeah, of course," Alice said at once, cutting her off before she could continue to even vaguely allude to an admittedly non-existent but nevertheless creepy incestuous relationship with her brother, "No worries. It's just…it's all pretty messed up." _And you don't even know the half of it._

Her companion hummed in agreement, and together they turned their gazes to the front window again.

"Alice?"

"Mmm?"

"Do you think Luke's alright?"

"Oh, bloody hell."

Leia raised her eyebrows, "What?"

Alice shook her head, "Sorry. I just remembered he's not with us. I _hope _he's alright...he'd better be, or I'm going to hunt him down and…probably injure him, if I'm honest."

Outside the ship, there suddenly came a loud cracking noise, as if a huge rock had just been crushed. She flinched, and peered out of the window. The sound came again, and again. "Imperial fighters," Leia said grimly, "they're looking for us."

Alice sighed, and sat back in her seat. Hoth had been cold and dismal, but it was still better than this drifting hunk of rock. The explosions went on and on, echoing hollowly through the cave. Suddenly, Leia leant forward in her seat, peering through the view screen. "What?" Alice asked apprehensively, "What is it?" Leia didn't answer, causing a horrible, nerve-jangling build in tension that made Alice wish she could turn around and run away.

Then, very suddenly, a huge, ugly, slimy, disgusting half-bat, half-slug creature smashed into the window, directly in front of their faces. Alice screamed.

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**Dun dun dun! Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	17. Tension and General Cuteness

Hello readers! First and foremost, sorry for the delay in posting this chapter - I have been a very busy bee what with AS Theatre Studies Practicals, parents' evenings and an extremely rainy camping trip (never go camping in England). I hope you have all been well in the intervening time and aren't too stressed about life in general. If you are, please, have a lovely chocolate chip cookie on me; it'll make you feel better.

Next up on the agenda is this week's **shout-outs**: thank you to **Taboo22**, **Guest**, **Katyp****erry2 (x8 - thanks so much!) **and **Lucia123**. I'm so grateful to have such keen followers for this story - really brightens up my rainy English days. :)

Quick note: this is a bit of a filler chapter, which is why it's a little on the short side, but be reassured, coming up we have the infamous trip to Cloud City where, I can confirm, Alice will be formerly introduced to - DUN DUN DUN - Darth Vader! That's right - be excited.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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_**Super quick recap: Team Jedi (minus the Jedi) is stranded on an asteroid without a working hyperdrive. Hilarity, as always, ensues.**_

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Reaching out, she grabbed hold of Leia's sleeve and stumbled away from the front screen where the grimy monster thing was still writhing around and flapping its horrible leathery wings against the glass. "Come on!" Alice said, hyperventilating. Together, they fled through the door, and went looking for Han.

"Han!" Alice yelled as they rounded the corner, "There's something out there, and we are seriously not equipped to deal with giant bat-bugs!"

"What?" He said, looking up at them and squinting through the thick goggles he was wearing. "There's something outside the ship," Alice repeated, feeling a little hysterical. Her declaration was nicely punctuated by the sound of something hitting the ceiling of the _Falcon _with a loud metallic bang.

"I'm going out there," Han said, getting to his feet. He pointed at Ally and Threepio, "_You_, stay inside."

"Aye aye," she said, shakily. _So much for feminism…women's rights activists the world over would be ashamed of me_.

Leia, however, was a little gold star, and strode after Han saying, "I'm coming with you!" Chewie growled, and followed them both. Alice sighed, and pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to fight back a small dip in her sense of self-worth.

"Don't fret, Mistress Alice," Threepio said, coming over to stand next to her, "I'm sure they'll be alright."

"They'd better be," she said in small voice. "Because neither of us can fly this ship…" They both paused to consider the consequences if Han, Leia and Chewie were all eaten by bat-monsters. "Come on," Alice said, hurriedly, "let's go and look out the front screens."

It was difficult to see out of the windows – the lights inside and the lack of light outside turned the glass into a mirror. Alice ignored her own ghostly, nervous reflection, and pressed her face up against the cold surface of the window, her hands cupped against her eyes, but ready to jump back at a moment's notice should a mutant creature decide to smash the window.

"Look," she hissed, tapping the glass frantically with her fingernail, "there they are!"

"Mistress Alice, why are you speaking in hushed tones?"

"Because this is a tense moment, Threepio," she whispered, "it's required."

She watched as Han, Leia and Chewie wandered around, their faces somewhat disturbingly obscured by the oxygen masks they were wearing.

Suddenly there was a flurry of movement outside, followed by a burst of light, and Alice flinched back with a small cry.

Then Han's voice, warped by his oxygen mask and being transmitted directly to the cockpit, came over the speakers, "It's alright. Yeah. What I thought. A mynock. Probably chewing on the power couplings. Better make sure there're no more attached."

"And then you'll come back in, right?" Alice asked, anxious.

"Yeah, sure, we'll be right back."

A short volley of laser blasts followed, along with sounds of disgust from Leia and Han. Suddenly, though, the whole ship shook. Not in a nice little, 'we're jumping to light speed' way. In a way that suggested the ground was about to give way beneath them. Alice grabbed the console as the ground tilted and hung on, staring out of the window in confusion. "Han…? What's happening?"

"I don't know…wait a second…"

Alice heard the high pitched sound of the passage of a laser burst, and had to tighten her grip as once again the _Falcon _gave a violent shudder.

She heard a sharp intake of breath from over the speakers, then Han started yelling, "Back on the ship, back on the ship!"

She took this as a clear indication that she should get out of his way, and pressed herself back against the wall of the cockpit, preparing for when Han would come bursting through the door. "Get back, Threepio," she said, waving a hand at him.

"Yes, perhaps you're right…" The golden droid backed up as far as he could, just in time for Han and Chewie to come dashing past them with Leia in hot pursuit.

"So," Alice said with mock cheeriness, "anyone care to explain what's going on?"

"Ask him," Leia snapped, strapping herself into her seat.

"Han?"

"We're taking off," he said grimly, "we need to get out of here now." He revved the engines dramatically, and lifting them off the floor of the cave, sent the _Falcon_ barrelling down the narrow rock passage.

In the distance, Alice could see the twinkling light of the stars through the tunnel mouth – but it was getting smaller. "Han," she burst out, grabbing the back of Chewie's seat in her anxiety, "go faster, the tunnel's collapsing!"

"It's not a tunnel."

"Wha-?" Then Alice saw how it wasn't a tunnel. Because as they got closer, the jagged bits of rock she had taken for stalactites and stalagmites began to look an awful lot like teeth; huge, ginormous teeth in a huge, ginormous mouth, which they were currently flying out of.

"We were inside a giant slug!" Alice exclaimed, clapping her hands over her mouth in horror, "That's disgusting! You went outside- inside…whatever!"

"Alice, we've got bigger problems," Leia said, gritting her teeth, "the Imperial ships are still out here, and they're still looking for us."

"I know," said Alice, still hyperventilating, "but…urgh!"

The ship rocked violently and Han started flicking switches crazily, "Yeah, remember those Imperial star destroyers, Alice? They heard you weren't taking them seriously, so now they're shooting at us."

"Of course I'm taking it seriously," she said, grumpily, "look, here I am panicking like the rest of you, '_Oh, no, star destroyers! …OMG and stuff…_' See?"

Han rolled his eyes, "Come on, let's get out of here." He turned to Chewie, "Ready to go to light speed?"

His second in command growled, and Han leaned forward, "One, two…three!" He shoved the magical light speed lever down…and nothing happened.

Alice facepalmed.

"Oh, come on," Han said, looking tragically disappointed, "that's not fair."

Chewie groaned, and Han glared at him, "The secondary circuits are working, it's not my fault!"

"No light speed?" Leia asked, wearily.

"It's not my fault," he said, spinning round to face her.

Alice hissed as another shot hit the _Millennium Falcon _and they all jolted to one side in their seats, "Okay, no light speed. We have a plan B, right?"

"Sir," Threepio sounded even more worked up than the rest of them – then again, he often did. "We've just lost the main rear deflector shield. Another direct hit to the back quarter and we're done for!"

Han hesitated, then got to his feet, "Turn her around!" Chewie roared. "I said, turn her around, I'm going to put all our power into the front shield!"

"You're going to attack them?" Leia said, stunned.

"Sir, the odds of surviving a direct assault on an Imperial star destroyer-"

"Hush!" Alice said forcibly. Chewie whined in agreement, and reaching one paw over the back of the pilot's seat, gave him a solid bash on the top of his head. The droid's eyes flickered out, and he went silent. "But seriously, Han, what in the name of sanity are you doing?"

"We're going to play a little trick on them," he said through gritted teeth, as they swept around to face the star destroyer head on. "See that spire? We're going to land on it." Alice studied the huge hulking mass of the star destroyer in front of them, bristling with aerials and dishes and weapons and goodness knew what else. She raised her eyebrows, "And how exactly will that help?"

"Their scopes will only extend outwards from the hull – they won't be scanning the ship itself."

Leia drew a slow breath through her teeth, "That's…that's actually quite clever."

Alice smiled as Han glanced at Leia over his shoulder. "Thank you. Leia."

_Awww!_

Dragging his eyes away from the princess (apparently with some difficulty), Han brought them into land, hidden against the spire. He flicked a few switches and immediately the engines cycled down, leaving them in darkness. Alice waited tensely, but true enough, there were no more explosions – if the crew of the star destroyer could see them, they weren't shooting at them.

"So now we just sit here until…"

"Uh…" Han said, the vaguely panicked look on his face suggesting he hadn't really thought this far ahead. Leia raised her eyebrows, "Go on then. Impress us. What did you have in mind for our next move?"

"Well…uh…if they follow standard Imperial procedure, they'll dump their garbage before they go to light speed, and then we just float away."

_Huh. Smart._

"With the rest of the garbage," Leia said, nodding, a small smile playing around her mouth, "then what?"

"Then we need to find a safe port nearby. Any ideas?" He sat up and leaned forward over the console, presumably pressing buttons. "Wait…this is interesting. Lando…"

"Lando system?"

"Lando's not a system, he's a man. Lando Calrissian. He's this cardplayer, gambler - a scoundrel. You'd like him."

"Thanks."

Alice grinned. _Cute_.

"Bespin's pretty far but I think we can make it."

"What's Bespin?" Alice said with a large yawn.

"A planet, kid," Han said, peering out the window. Something outside shifted, and suddenly he was all business once again. "Okay, standby, Chewie. And detach."

With a clunk, the _Millennium Falcon_ came free of the spire and floated away. Alice leaned forward, holding her breath – now all they had to do was float here with no power until the star destroyer they'd been piggy-backing went into light speed. Out of the window, she caught glimpses of other huge lumps of metal, presumably the rubbish the star destroyer was now dumping – just as Han had said.

Leia smiled, "You have your moments. Not many of them, but you have them." She leaned forward, and gave Han a kiss on the cheek. Alice punched the air. She was also careful, when Leia turned around to retake her seat, to give the princess a sly, '_I told you so_' look.

Ahead of them, the star destroyer zipped off into light speed, and Han restarted the engines.

"So, it's full speed ahead, to…where exactly?" Alice said, stretching her arms and legs out simultaneously so that she looked like a drunk starfish trying to hug someone.

"Cloud City on Bespin."

"Wow. That sounds fabulous."

Han rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say, sweetheart."

Alice and Leia grinned at each other, and Alice whispered under her breath, "He knows it's fabulous."

"This is going to be a long trip without light speed," Han said from his captain's seat, "you two might want to get some rest."

"I'm feeling pretty rested," Alice said, stretching, "how about you two get some rest, and I'll fly the ship?"

Han whipped his head round to stare at her, horrified.

"Relax. I was joking. Hey, Artoo- damn."

"What?"

"I just remembered Artoo and Luke aren't here." She frowned, and put a hand to her forehead, "Do you think they got out of Hoth all right?"

"Worrying about it isn't going to help," Leia chided gently.

"I know, I know. You know what," she got to her feet and went to the door, "I'm going to go…find something to amuse myself with. See you guys later."

Feeling just a little bit on the gloomy side, even though they had just evaded an entire fleet of star destroyers, Alice paused on the main flight deck and remembered the time, really not that long ago, when she, Luke and Ben had first boarded this ship.

"The dream team's been broken up," she commented sadly to the empty room.

Chewie poked his head around the corner, and warbled at her, reminding her of his presence aboard the aforementioned spaceship.

"Oh, hey big guy," Alice said, "didn't know you were here."

He made another incomprehensible noise (Alice added it to the already vast list) and coming up to her gave her an unexpected but quite nice and very furry hug.

"Aww," she spluttered, trying to get huge quantities of wookiee fur out of her mouth, "thanks Chewie. You're simply the best." Her eyes widened, and she drew back slightly, staring up at her fluffy pal, "Chewie. I'm feeling the desperate urge to go into Tina Turner mode. But, for your sake, I am restraining myself. I hope you understand what a sacrifice that is."

He growled in confusion, and she tittered, "Never mind. According to Captain Solo, it'll be awhile before we get to this…Cloud City place. I don't suppose you have any ideas of how to pass the time?"

Chewie gave an enthusiastic roar, and Alice gave him a thumbs up, "Well, great. Okay…so, what is it?"

He opened his mouth, closed it again, then tipped his head on one side with a whine. "You're right. This isn't going to work. Um…Threepio! One second."

Alice scooted along to the cockpit, said hello to a bemused Han and Leia, grabbed the currently inactive Threepio by the arm and dragged him back to the main deck with her.

"Here we go," she said cheerfully, "now we just need to figure out how to turn him back on…"

Chew growled, and gave Threepio another vigorous bash to the head. Immediately, the lights in his eyes stuttered back to life, and he straightened up, glancing around, "Oh my…Mistress Alice! Whatever is going on?"

"We're pretty much in the clear," she said, "we're heading for a planet where Han thinks we can get the hyperdrive repaired, and Chewie had an idea to pass the time, only I…"

"I quite understand, Mistress Alice. What is your idea, Chewbacca?"

She waited while the wookiee growled for a bit, then started paying attention when Threepio turned around to face her again, "He suggests you play dejarik."

"Umm…what?"

"It is a board game – I believe Chewbacca and Artoo played it on the flight from Tatooine to Alderaan."

"Ohh. So that's what you guys were doing. Well, alright. If you're willing to try and teach me, Chewie, I'd love to play."

Three hours and forty minutes later, and Alice had just lost her first game of dejarik. "Damn," she mumbled, as Chewie's holographic m'onnock ripped her holographic houjix limb from limb.

The wookiee wailed, and Threepio translated, "He says you did very well for your first try."

"Thank you," Alice said graciously, "that's very kind of you to say so."

Just then, her pocket started to beep. She frowned, then suddenly recognised it as the sound of her comlink, which she realised she'd been carrying around since the Death Star without ever really using. She pulled it from her pocket and pressed the receive button.

"Hello?"

"_Kid, we're entering Bespin's atmosphere. Get up here, you're going to want to see this." _

"Sure." She grinned at Chewie and Threepio, "Come on. _We're all going on a summer holiday…_"

The first thing Alice noticed on entering the cockpit was a big bank of fluffy pink-tinged clouds, colouring the cabin with rosy light. "So, Cloud City. Aptly named, isn't it."

"Yes, Alice," Leia said patiently.

"Well, you know what I would have called it, if I were in charge?"

"What?"

"Mount Olympus. Probably. Unless I thought of something better. Like…ooh, Pemberley!"

Two smaller speeders suddenly came whooshing up beside them, and an unfamiliar voice came out of the speakers, _"Approaching vessel, identify yourself."_

"Han Solo, captain of the _Millennium Falcon_."

"_Do you have a landing permit?"_

"No, I don't have a landing permit-"

Laser blasts from their two escorts. Han backtracked, "Look, let me explain, I'm trying to reach Lando Calrissian."

More laser blasts. _"You will not deviate from your present course."_

"I thought you knew this person," Leia said.

Chewie growled something. Han looked worried, "Well that was a long time ago, I'm sure he's forgotten about that."

A moment later, one of the two jets spoke again, _"Permission granted to land on Platform 327."_

"Thank you," Han said, grumpily. "See, there's no need to worry. We go way back, Lando and me."

Leia glanced at Alice, "Who's worried?"

_Me. Oh dear…_

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!  
**


	18. Cloud City - AKA Pemberly

Hi chums! Having been a lax author for the last couple of weeks, I am returning to my schedule of regular Sunday updates. Hopefully. Anyway, on a tangent, I would just like to announce that I was delighted to find that Word recognises the word 'kerfuffle', which was a happy surprise.

Right, now, **shout-outs** this week go to: a **guest**, **Taboo22**, **Katyperry22**, **ArtistsChild93 **and another **guest** (though possibly the same guest). Thank you all for your reviews, I love getting them, I really do. :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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Still escorted by the two little speeders, they swept through yet another bank of clouds when suddenly the city itself came into view. Alice felt her jaw drop. "Wow."

Sarcastic comments aside, Cloud City really was spectacular. The entire city was suspended in the air, a huge, floating, mushroom-shaped metropolis. The flat upper section was decorated with a towering city skyline, and rows and rows of windows along the curved side indicated the presence of hundreds of lower levels. "It's beautiful."

"Sure is," Han agreed distractedly as he guided the _Falcon_ through the maze of skyscrapers, eventually bringing them down on a flat, deserted rooftop. "Oo-er," Alice said, "it's like a helipad. Fancy. So I guess this Lando of yours is pretty well off, Han."

"You could say that. Come on." He got up out of his seat and beckoned the others after him. The landing platform, when they stepped on to it, was eerily quiet.

"I don't like this," Leia said, glancing around twitchily.

"Why not?" Alice asked, brightly, skipping over to the edge of the platform to lean over and inspect the view, "Han said he knew this Lando guy. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Yeah," Han said, looking just as edgy as Leia, "what she said. Trust me."

"That's the last thing I feel like doing," Leia muttered under her breath.

At the far end of the platform, a door suddenly hissed open, very loudly and dramatically. Han looked relieved, but Leia narrowed her eyes, and Alice noticed her hand creeping towards the small blaster holstered at her hip. Han apparently saw it too, and gently pulled Leia's hand away, "See? My friend."

He smiled reassuringly, and strode off to meet the approaching party. Alice cocked her head, "Leia, correct me if I'm wrong, but is that man wearing a cape?"

"I believe so."

"Good lord. I observe that he also has a rather…forceful moustache. I wonder how long it takes to cultivate such, ah…_magnificent_ facial hair."

"I really couldn't say. For obvious reasons."

"Touché. Shall we?"

Alice stepped forward to find Han being shouted at by his moustachioed 'friend', but Leia hung back, loitering suspiciously by Chewie. It was obvious that she really didn't like this situation, though Alice couldn't tell why – they hadn't even been shot at yet.

"You've got a lot of guts, coming here. After what you pulled…" _Lol. He has a stupid voice,_ Alice thought, perhaps a little unkindly.

She snorted aloud as Han put on an innocent expression and pointed questioningly at himself. The other man, presumably Lando Cal-whatever-his-name-was smiled a slightly creepy smile, made worse by the moustache, and advanced slowly towards Han. The smuggler tensed up, quite clearly not very certain of his associate's intentions.

Lando raised a hand, and for a moment, Alice genuinely thought he was going to punch Han in the face. Then he threw his arms around Han's shoulders and pulled him into a hug whilst laughing maniacally. _Phew. Thank goodness. For a moment there I thought he was some kind of psychopath._

"How're you doing, you old-"

_Insert term of manly affection here,_ Alice thought drily. She glanced over her shoulder at Leia, who still looked reluctant to come forward, "Coming, dear?"

"It looks like we don't have much choice," Leia said, indicating Han, who was already involved in what seemed to be an extremely animated discussion with his old pal.

"Guess not," Alice said, making a face, "but you're not going to make me go and stand with old Monsieur Creepy Moustache on my own, are you?"

Leia smiled reluctantly, "Would I?"

Alice grinned, and together the two of them went to stand by Han's side.

Lando's gaze slid creepily on to them, and he said, "Hello. What do we have here?" _Urgh. Yuck. Moustache._

Oozing sleaziness, he stepped forward, "I'm Lando Calrissian-" _Calrissian,_ Alice thought, triumphantly, _that was his name. Same difference really._

"I'm the administrator of this facility. And who might you be?"

Alice glanced at Leia, trying to indicate that she should speak. She did this by narrowing her eyes and doing a frantic miniature headshake. Luckily Leia was gracious enough not to attract attention to Alice's very unbecoming expression, and replied smoothly, "I'm Leia. This is Alice."

"Welcome Leia," he said, kissing first Leia's knuckles, then Alice's, "Alice." _Oh god, oh god. The moustache touched me. It _touched _me._

"Alright, alright," Han said, swooping in to save them (Lando was still lingering creepily over Alice's hand). He tugged Alice's hand out of Lando's and took Leia's as well, apparently for good measure, "You old smoothie. Lead on."

Lando eyed him with something not far off resentment, before saying, with forced brightness, "So, what's wrong with the _Falcon_?"

"Hyperdrive," Han replied, as they walked down the landing platform.

"I'll have my people look into it," Lando said smoothly, "that ship's saved my life quite a few times, you know. She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy."

Alice raised an eyebrow, "People keep saying that. I'm still not entirely convinced."

"Well sorry kid," Han said to her, "but one day, when she's fully repaired and we're not being chased around the galaxy, I promise, I'll show you what the old girl can do."

"I'll hold you to that," Alice said playfully, feeling a jolt a moment later as she remembered her conversation with Ben on the sand dunes of Tatooine… _You should never make promises you can't keep, Alice…_

"Alice? Are you alright?"

She blinked, and realised she had fallen slightly behind. Leia was paused in front of her, frowning slightly; Han and Lando had pulled ahead, talking about mining or some such.

"Yeah, fine," she said, shaking herself, "sorry, temporary mind blank."

"I don't like this," Leia muttered under her breath as they resumed walking, "Han kept trying to reassure us – that's got to be a bad sign."

"You sure? Because thus far, apart from being a total sleazebag, Lando doesn't seem that bad."

Leia looked exasperated, "Alice, you've known him for all of about two minutes!"

"I know," she said, defensively, "that's why I said 'thus far'…"

"Here you are," Lando said, his voice suddenly much closer. Alice glanced up and saw they had stopped in front of a door decorated with pretty swirling patterns. He pressed a switch and it slid back to reveal an elegantly furnished apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the skyline.

"Oh, wow," Alice said, stepping inside and gazing around, delighted, "it's so pretty." On a table in front of her was a lamp entirely made out of delicate, swooping curves of crystals which refracted the sunlight streaming in through the huge windows, sending a dozen rosy shards of light splintering across the table. She ran her finger gently along the row of hanging diamonds, which made a sweet tinkling noise as they brushed against each other.

"I'm glad you like it my dear," Lando said, coming up behind her like a creepy stalker you try to avoid at a party, "this room connects to several others of a similar design – you can rest here while you wait for the _Falcon _to be fixed up."

"Thanks," Alice said, glancing at Leia and raising her eyebrows.

"I'll let you get settled in," Lando said, giving them all a bow and retreating.

"He's just like Mr Collins from '_Pride and Prejudice_'," said Alice, as soon as the door had closed behind him, "only American. You know what, I take it back – Cloud City will no longer be known as Pemberley – from now on, it's Rosings Park."

"Han, are you sure this is a good idea?" Leia asked, frowning around at the beautiful room as if the floor might suddenly turn to magma, "I still don't think we should trust him."

"Would you two relax?" He said, throwing himself out onto one of the posh sofas and tipping his head to one side, "I've got everything under control."

"Really?" Leia looked far from convinced, "In that case, where's Threepio?"

"Huh?"

The princess narrowed her eyes. "I haven't seen him since we left the _Falcon_. Have you Alice? Chewie?"

"No," Alice said, starting and glancing around guiltily – Leia was right. She should have noticed the lack of complaints. "Where's he gone?"

"I don't know," Leia said, her voice as hard as stone, "but I think someone should try and find out."

"Alright," Han said, wisely taking the hint and getting to his feet, "I'll go and tell Lando to keep an eye out for him, okay?"

"Come back quickly," Alice blurted out, unnerved by the intensity of Leia's suspicion.

"Sure, kid. Back before you know it." He left, leaving an uncomfortable silence echoing in his wake. Alice let out a breath, and flopped onto the sofa Han had just vacated, "What do you think is going to happen if we stay here?"

"I don't know," said Leia, "but the sooner we leave, the better I'll feel."

"But it's so nice here," she said, "and Han said he _knew _Lando. Is it really so hard to believe that for once we're not sitting in the middle of a trap?"

Leia shifted restlessly, "I don't know. It would be nice…"

"No rest for the wicked though, huh?" Alice said, folding her arms and closing her eyes, "I get you." She heard her friend sigh, and peeked through her eyelashes to see Leia standing by the window, her arms folded, her expression pensive. "Hey," she said, getting to her feet and going to lay a comforting hand on Leia's shoulder, "don't worry. As soon as the hyperdrive's fixed, we'll be out of here, and going to…wherever it was we were originally planning to go before this whole hyperdrive kerfuffle."

"Thanks," Leia said, giving her a grudging smile, "I'm going to see if I can dig up any clean clothes in here. Call me if anything happens."

"Sure," Alice said, taking up the princess's place by the window, "no problem."

Leia disappeared into the next room, and Alice turned her attention to the stunning view out of the huge window. It really was beautiful: huge space ships glided elegantly past like large birds with smaller speeders shot by at their sides, trailing a heat haze that shimmered lazily in the setting sun. The bright light glimmered off every surface, making the whole skyline of the city look like it was burning. But she couldn't really enjoy it – now that Leia mentioned it, something did feel kinda weird about this place. Something that made her skin prickle uncomfortably, like she was being watched.

Alice shivered, then said sternly to herself, "Stop freaking yourself out. Leia's the cautious one, it's her job to worry about these kinds of things. Whereas I'm the…immature one."

"Hey."

She shook herself out of her warmth-induced stupor, and turned to see Han stepping back through the door, "Hey." Raising her voice, she called, "Leia, Han's back."

The princess appeared at once, "So?" Alice raised her eyebrows – Leia's hair, previously in a practical plaited bun at the back of her head, was now looped into two plaits at the side of her head with a bun on the top, the hair shining and neat.

_How does she _do_ that? Special princess hairstyling training? She's probably a master._

"Well, the ship's almost done; two or three more things and we're in great shape."

"And what about Threepio?" Leia strode forward; to Alice's amusement, Han backed up a couple of steps, clearly not wanting to risk an argument, "He's been gone too long to have gotten lost-"

"Relax," Han said, catching her by the shoulders and kissing her on the forehead (Alice quickly averted her eyes), "I've asked Lando about Threepio, he'll let us know if he turns up."

"I don't trust Lando," Leia said, taking a step back from Han and sitting on the edge of the sofa. As Han went to sit next to her, Alice backed up to the window and turned to look at the speeders again, feeling a general warm glow of satisfaction, despite the general badness of the situation.

_I think they're finally getting this whole relationship thing. Now if only Luke would show up…_ But she instantly broke off that train of thought, embarrassed and a little surprised. _Stupid – why did I think that? Luke's just my friend. My un-dateable friend. I don't even like him like that._

"_No good ever comes of deceiving yourself, my girl."_

"Shut up, Ben."

"Alice?"

She shook her head to clear it, and glanced over her shoulder, "Yeah?" To her surprise, Chewie had reappeared almost silently on the scene, and he was holding a box that appeared to contain…Threepio. Well – bits of him, anyway.

"What happened to him?" She asked, reaching out to touch the cool gold metal. Chewie growled, and Han translated, whilst poking through the pile of dissembled droid parts, "He found him in a junk pile."

"What a mess," Leia said, "Chewie, d'you think you can repair him?"

The wookiee shrugged and moaned. "Gonna guess that means no," Alice said.

"Lando's got people who can fix him," Han said, casually. Chewie yipped indignantly, and Alice raised her eyebrows, "Tell me Han, were you listening at all when Leia told you that she didn't trust Lando?"

Something twitched over Leia's shoulder, catching Alice's eye, and she made a face, "Speak of the devil..."

Lando hovered in the doorway, fully caped and ready for action, "I'm sorry, am I interrupting anything?"

"…and he shall appear," Alice finished, under her breath.

"Not really," Leia said, in a tone that anyone with half a brain would realise meant, '_Get out of here right now._' This very elite group apparently did not include their host, who smiled broadly, and gave Leia a very obvious (and pervy) scan, "You look absolutely beautiful. You truly belong here with us among the clouds."

_Hello,_ Alice thought grumpily, _other woman in the room. Over here. Yeah. That's me._

She glanced at Han and guessed from the expression on his face that this was payback for Han stealing both Leia and herself from Lando earlier.

"Thank you," Leia said, sounding as if she was fighting the urge to vomit.

"Would you care to join me for a little refreshment?" Lando said, holding out his hand to Leia, "Everyone's invited, of course."

Alice resisted the urge to groan, "Really? Is it, like, a compulsory thing?"

Han snorted, but turned the sound into a cough as Lando glanced at him, "Come now, Alice, I really must insist. Cloud City has some of the best restaurants in the entire Outer Rim."

Alice narrowed her eyes, and glanced at Leia over Lando's shoulder. The princess shrugged, and nodded. Repressing a sigh, she said, "Well, if you put it like that…"

"Excellent," Lando said, offering his arm to Alice this time, "Allow me to escort you." Trying not to shudder, Alice put her hand through his arm, and glared at Han, who was doubled over in silent laughter.

Lando led her out of the room, and Leia and Han followed arm in arm behind them, with Chewie bringing up the rear.

"So, Alice," he said as they walked, "from what Han's told me, I get the idea you're not from around here."

"Uh…no. From Gallifrey. It's in the…Jupiter system."

"Gallifrey? I've never heard of it."

"Oh, yeah…well, don't feel bad about it, not many people around here have…"

"I assume it comes under the Empire's jurisdiction," he said, a little too casually. Alice glanced at him, instantly suspicious, "Gallifrey? No. I don't think it does. Why?"

"Merely curious," he said, staring at her a little too hard for her liking, "because, you see, neither does Cloud City." _What's he doing? Why is he looking at me like that?_

"So you're part of the mining guild then?" Alice jumped slightly at the sound of Leia's voice. She'd almost forgotten that the other two were with them. Holding her eyes for a moment longer, Lando turned and glanced at Leia, "No, not actually. We're small enough not to be noticed, which is advantageous for everybody, since our customers are eager to avoid attracting attention to themselves."

"Aren't you afraid the Empire's going to find out about this little operation?" Han asked, "Shut you down?"

They walked down some stairs and paused in front of a door, decorated in a similar style to the apartments they'd just left, "Well, it's always been a threat that's loomed over everything we do here. But recently things have developed that'll ensure our security. I've just made a deal that'll keep the Empire out of here forever." As he said it, he suddenly gripped Alice's hand and squeezed it lightly. She flinched, and pulled her hand away from him. _Creepy…_ Lando blinked once at her, then opened the door.

Alice looked up as the two panels slid apart, then jerked backwards with a startled cry as she saw what was inside.

Within an instant, Han had pushed her behind him and was shooting at the black-robed figure of Darth Vader. Their adversary, however simply raised one gloved hand, and blocked the laser bursts before they could so much as touch him. Then he beckoned, and Han's blaster tugged itself from his grip and flew towards Vader, landing neatly in his hand.

_Oh my god._

Apart from seeing Luke practicing with his lightsaber, Alice had never seen the Force used in this way. It was more than a little scary, seeing something that she had previously thought to be impossible happen right in front of her. Like watching a pig grow wings or something.

As the sizzling sound of laser bursts began to fade, leaving a stunned silence in its wake, Vader calmly set the weapon down on the table top and said, "I would be honoured if you would join us."

Alice shivered at the sound of his voice – it was the same ice-cold tone she'd heard in her head on Hoth. _What is this?_ She thought, desperately. _Sam and Frodo never had to actually meet Sauron. Then again, I suppose Darth Vader is more on a par with a Ringwraith, actually…in which case, Frodo was stabbed by one. Uh oh…_

There came the sound of footsteps behind them, and Alice turned to see a whole load of storm troopers come running towards them, all holding very large and unfriendly looking blasters.

Lando took a step back, distancing himself from the four of them, "I had no choice. They arrived right before you did. I'm sorry."

Han returned his gaze evenly and said, as cool as a cucumber, "I'm sorry too."

Fear clawed at Alice's throat, and she crept a little closer to Chewie, seeking reassurance from his woolly bulk.

"_Courage, Alice," _Ben's voice murmured out of thin air. Alice was not encouraged by the distinct note of pity in his tone, as if he knew that she would need it.

"Oh boy," she muttered under her breath, as they were pressed forward into the room, and the door slid firmly shut behind them.

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**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	19. Force Choking Isn't Fun

Hey guys! I hope you all had good Easters and ate lots of chocolate. :)

**Shout-outs **this week go to: **crossMIRAGE19**, **Undertaker's Hattress**, **Katyperry22**, **Lywick **and as always, **Taboo22**. Thanks so much for reviewing - it really makes my day.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

* * *

_We're having a tea party with Darth Vader,_ Alice thought, slightly hysterically, as storm troopers shepherded them forwards. At the opposite end of the room, the black robed figure waited, the masked face coldly blank; another figure, this one entirely dressed in a sort of mint green colour, waited at his shoulder. _Huh. A little less threatening…_

"Stay close to me," Han muttered, resting his free hand on Alice's shoulder – his other was wrapped around Leia, keeping her pressed firmly against him. "Gladly," she replied, shuffling backwards, only to find each elbow being grabbed by a stormtrooper, separating her quite deliberately from the others. "Han?!"

Vader rose smoothly to his feet, his cloak whispering around his legs. _"Silence," _he commanded, his voice echoing harshly in the silent room. Silence fell. He turned his head slightly, and though it should have been impossible to tell, what with the way his mask concealed his eyes completely, Alice knew that he was focused directly on her, _"You. I will speak with you first."_

"What?" Han sounded stunned, "Why do you want to speak to her?"

"_You underestimate her value, Captain Solo,"_ Vader said to Han, and to his soldiers, _"bring her."_

Alice couldn't speak – she was simply too frightened. But she met Han's eyes, and hoped he could see the mute appeal for help in her own.

"Alice!"

The storm trooper pushed her after Vader, and she was shoved from the room with Han and Leia's desperate calls echoing in her ears.

_I am very, very scared._ Alice stayed deathly quiet as they led her down several levels, into a dim, windowless room, lit only by the light that filtered through the barred ceiling above. She could feel tears prickling at her eyes, and forced them back, telling herself that there wasn't really any point in crying.

"_Put her in the chair,"_ Vader commanded, waiting in the corner of the cell as his soldiers did as they were told and forced Alice into a high backed chair in the centre of the room. There were cuffs on the arms, but they didn't tie her up – maybe that was a good sign.

_I have no idea what's going to happen,_ she realised, as Darth Vader billowed into her line of sight. _No idea at all. _The thought was vaguely terrifying.

"_You,"_ he said, slowly, as if puzzling her out, _"I sensed your presence on Hoth. The Force converges around you, but you do not wield it. I must understand this. Who are you?"_

She swallowed, "A-Alice Miller."

"_Where were you born? Who are your parents?"_

Alice hesitated, and he shouted in her face,_ "Speak!"_ She flinched back, and blurted out, "Gallifrey. I'm from Gallifrey."

He paused, cocking his head on one side. She waited, her fear mounting with every rattling breath he took. Eventually, he spoke again. _"You're lying. Foolish girl, do you not think I would not be able to tell? I am not one of your companions. You cannot trick me. Now, think carefully of your friends, and speak truthfully this time: where were you born?"_

"Earth," she mumbled, not daring to look at the hideously blank mask.

He considered her briefly, and Alice hoped that might be it. But after a brief pause, Vader continued, striding around her like a big black crow with respiratory issues. _"You know nothing of the Force, only what you have been told by your foolish rebel friends."_

She thought of Ben, the way he'd described the Force to her and Luke sitting in his living room before any of this had started; before he'd been killed, by the man standing before her. Anger flared hot within her, but she knew better than to speak. Darth Vader, it appeared however, could tell, _"Ah, yes. You were a friend of Kenobi's. My old master, Obi-Wan Kenobi…"_

She knew that too, from that brief period on Tatooine, when Ben had told them about his old apprentice…Luke's father. _Anakin Skywalker…_

Very suddenly, Alice felt a hand close around her throat and begin to squeeze, though no one was physically touching her. That on its own was terrifying – suffocating was a close second. She gagged, her eyes bulging as slowly and methodically her air was reduced, little by little.

"_I see you know something of my history,"_ Vader said, appearing in front of her, his hand clenched into a fist, not even sounding vaguely disturbed by the fact that she was currently choking to death, _"and of my son. Tell me. Where is he? Where is Skywalker?"_

"I…" Alice gulped, trying to get enough breath to speak, "I don't… Please…" For one frightening moment, the invisible hand closed, cutting off her air completely. Then it very suddenly released her, and she dragged in a huge lungful of air, only to let it out again in a flood of coughing.

"_You don't know," _Vader said quietly, sounding almost disappointed as he leaned down to gaze straight into her face. _No, I don't, _she thought, glaring back at him, her heart bursting with anger and fear,_ and if I did, I wouldn't tell you._

The tension in the room mounted exponentially as their silent staring contest stretched itself onwards, until suddenly, it was broken by a mild beeping noise. Alice let out a small breath of relief; if the interruption hadn't come when it had, she didn't think she would have been able to go on hiding how blindingly terrified she was.

"Lord Vader," one of the storm troopers stepped forward, "we're receiving communications that the prisoner Han Solo is causing problems. He demands that you release the girl in exchange for himself."

"_He is a fool. Bring him to me at once. If he is so eager to sacrifice himself for his precious friends, he should not be kept waiting."_ Vader turned to Alice, who was grimacing at the burning pain in her abused windpipe, _"You are lucky to have such willing friends – Captain Solo has just volunteered to take your punishment, as well as his own."_

_Hate…you._

"_I am well aware. Put her with the princess – and make sure Solo sees her."_

A storm trooper, standing ready, dragged Alice to her feet, and out of the door. She was dizzy, and the floor kept tilting as if it deliberately wanted to throw her off balance. Distantly, she heard someone shouting her name. She shook her head to clear it, then realised that the reason the voice sounded distant was because it was. Han was being marched towards her down the long stretch of corridor – he had seen her, she could tell from the way he was struggling against the soldier holding him. "Let me go! Ally! Ally, are you okay?"

_Captain Solo has volunteered to take your punishment as well as his own._

Tears threatened, and this time she couldn't stop them, "I'm sorry," she sobbed as they reached each other, "I'm so sorry."

"What? Wait, let me speak to her- Ally!"

His voice was cut off as he was forced through the doors of the cell Alice had just left.

"Alice?"

She squinted through the fog of tears to see Lando standing hesitantly in front of her. _You…_ Instantly, Alice lunged forward. Caught off guard, the storm trooper lost his grip on her, and she managed to get one solid punch straight into the middle of Lando's face. He staggered back, looking severely startled. "Ah!" _Damn that felt good._

"This is your fault," she shouted at him, the sound coming out as a pathetic tear-choked rasp from her damaged throat. Taking advantage of her distraction, the storm trooper grabbed her arms and forced them behind her back.

"Get a move on," he growled, pushing her past Lando. He dragged her down the corridor, and slamming open a door to the right, thrust her inside. She staggered, and almost fell, but caught herself on the wall as the door shut again behind her.

"Alice!"

Alice let out a huge, ugly, hitching sob as she recognised Leia's voice; she couldn't reply, only hide her face in her hands as Leia put her arms around her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. She waited patiently as Alice struggled to get her breathing back under control, eventually managing to force her tears into the occasional hiccupping sniff.

Leia studied her for a second, as though to check if she was really done crying, then said, carefully, "What happened, Alice? What did Vader ask you?"

"He wanted to know where Luke was," Alice rasped out. It seemed she couldn't talk above a whisper now, which was severely annoying, "I told him I didn't know. Leia, I'm sorry…"

"What for?"

She dashed a few tears away and croaked, tentatively, "Vader brought Han in, straight after me. I don't know what they're going to do to him…" The princess went silent, gazing grimly at the opposite wall, while Alice poked gingerly at her sore throat. She winced, and Leia cursed suddenly, taking Alice's face by the chin and gently tilting her head back so she could see her throat, "Damn it…are you alright?"

She gave a choked laugh, "Been better. I don't know how we're going to get out of this one, Leia."

Behind them, their cell door was suddenly flung open, and two guards in grey suits, not storm troopers, appeared at the door. "You two. Get up. You're moving."

"Moving where?" Leia asked, defiantly.

"You don't get to ask questions," he answered coldly, "Up. Now."

Leia stood up first, and then helped Alice to her feet. They stuck closely side by side as they were escorted down the corridor and brought to yet another cell. As the door opened and they received the inevitable push inside, Alice turned and stuck her tongue out at the two men. "There is no need to be rude," she said, primly.

The one on the left, who looked slightly younger, stared at her, but his partner simply rolled his eyes, and closed the door in her face.

"Leia? Alice?"

"Han!" He was lying on a small shelf of rock that jutted from the wall, with Leia and Chewie leaning over him.

"Are you okay?" Alice coughed, dropping to her knees beside Leia and giving him a nervous once-over, "What did they do to you?"

"You don't need to know," he said softly, "are_ you_ alright? What's wrong with your voice?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. Did they ask you any questions?"

"No. I don't know what their game is."

Unable to contain herself, Alice put one arm around Han's neck and looped the other around Leia's, and pulled them into a hug, "I'm so glad you two are okay." After a brief pause, they hugged her back, Han putting one arm around Alice and holding Leia's hand in the other.

Alice leaned her head against Leia's shoulder, not even caring that the movement made the collar of her jacket scrape against her sore neck, or that Han's clothes smelled ever so slightly burnt. Chewie growled, and joined the group hug, wrapping all three of them up in his arms.

Then, slowly, they broke apart. Alice got to her feet, and scanned the cell. "Oh! They let you keep Threepio! Have you been fixing him, Chewie?"

She went over to the now reassembled head and torso of the protocol droid. Chewie rumbled, and picked it up as if to show it to her. She looked up and smiled at him. He whined and very gently gestured to her throat – she could tell from the delicate pain spreading across her skin that it would bruise. Chewie seemed to realise it too, and recognise what it meant, and roared loudly. "Hush," Alice said, quickly, "don't disturb them."

Because as soon as she and Chewie had moved away, Leia had leant down and rested her head on Han's chest, and he was stroking her hair gently. The wookiee glanced over at the two humans, and growled again, more quietly this time.

"Trust me, buddy," Alice murmured, "it's not as bad as it looks."

Suddenly the door by which Leia and Alice had been brought in slid open. Alice turned, and let out a short, unkind burst of laughter as Lando, his nose swollen and starting to develop a black eye, walked into the room.

"Well, well," Han said, sitting up, "what happened to you, Lando, old buddy?"

"I did," Alice said, folding her arms.

The smuggler grinned, and gave her a nod of approval, "Good one."

"Shut up and listen," Lando snapped, shooting a glare at Alice, "Vader has agreed to turn Leia, Chewie and Alice over to me."

"Over to you?" Han said, riling up like an overprotective papa bear.

"They'll have to stay here, but they'll be safe."

"Stay here?" Alice asked, making a face, "With you?"

"What about Han?" Leia asked, quickly.

"Vader's given him to the bounty hunter."

"Vader wants us all dead-" argued Leia, but Lando cut her off, "He doesn't want you at all!"

"He wants Luke," Alice said, turning to Han with an apologetic expression, "…I don't know why, but he's pretty serious about finding him." Her voice died a little, and she cleared her throat, grimacing at the pain.

Lando nodded, "He's going to set a trap for him."

"And we're the bait," Leia said, her eyes wide.

"He's on his way."

"No," Alice muttered, unable to stop the word from coming out in her shock.

"Well, perfect," Han said dangerously, getting to his feet and lurching threateningly towards Lando, "you fixed this all really well, didn't you, my friend." He drew back his arm and punched him in the face – luckily for Lando it landed across his face rather than directly into his nose, otherwise it might have been broken entirely, thanks to Alice's earlier efforts. What wasn't so lucky was the fact that Lando was accompanied by two guards, one of whom struck Han hard in the back of the neck in retaliation, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Hey!" Alice tried to shout and managed to force out a dry croak of indignation.

"Stop!" The man paused as Lando straightened up, his hand pressed to his swollen cheek, "I've done all I can. I'm sorry I couldn't do better, but I've got my own problems."

"Yeah," Han rasped, looking up at him, "you're a real hero." Lando glared at him, and left without saying a word.

"I don't like him!" Alice said, kicking the wall to make up for her lack of ability to shout.

"He certainly has a way with people," Leia said sarcastically as she helped a heroically wincing Han to his feet.

"The worst thing is that Luke's on his way, and there's nothing we can do to let him know that it's a trap!"

Chewie roared in agreement, and shook his paws angrily at the ceiling. "Pipe down, you two," Han said, as Leia set him down, "We'll get out of this somehow."

"Oh, you know that, do you?" Alice asked, spinning to face him.

"We always have before."

"That's a rubbish argument."

Silence fell. Leia and Han gazed at Alice, and she turned away to face the wall, gingerly poking her neck. It hurt. Chewie moaned anxiously, and sitting down, picked up Threepio's body and started to work on him again.

_Well, this is dismal. Ben, care to make any helpful comments? Luke's already here and he's coming to save us straight away instead of falling into Vader's trap first? Or perhaps he's chatting with Vader now and they're bonding over the whole father-son thing. Nope? Thought not. Damn it._

Half an hour later, and it seemed that Vader's evil plan was now ready for the live bait to be put into place. Which basically meant that it was time for Team Jedi to be bullied into going somewhere else by another group of soldiers. And as an added bonus to the unpleasantness, Lando went with them, and Alice spent most of the walk glaring at the back of his head.

Chewie had managed to get Threepio talking again, but he was still without his legs. After Leia had flat-out refused to leave the incapacitated droid behind (much to his consternation), Chewie had quickly fashioned a sling type thing for Threepio to sit it, which he was now carrying on his back.

"Comfy up there?" Alice asked, unable to resist.

"No, Miss Alice," Threepio said stiffly, "I am not particularly comfortable at the present moment. If only you'd managed to reattach my legs; I wouldn't be in this ridiculous position "Now remember Chewbacca, you have a responsibility for me, so don't do anything foolish." This last was addressed to Chewie, who ignored him.

"Oh, be quiet," Alice said, as they were led into a room apparently lit in red, with a big smoking hole in the middle of the floor. She raised her eyebrows, "We've passed the bloody point of no return, my friends." Their guards positioned them right on the edge of the smoking chasm (alright, perhaps an overstatement, but so what?) and they waited.

A moment later, Vader entered, like a true diva: down a staircase with his cloak fluttering behind him. It was a bit like in those singing competitions on TV, when the contestant elegantly descending a spiral staircase with a wind-machine blowing, whilst warbling a love ballad…except there was a lovely edge of mortal danger thrown into the mix. Alice, feeling pretty reckless by this point, wanted to shout something disparaging at him, but luckily, didn't have the voice power to do so.

"What's going on, buddy?" Han muttered, in a very unfriendly manner to Lando.

"You're being put into carbon freeze."

"Say what?" Alice said, her eyes widening, "Han…they're turning you into an ice-lolly. An icicle. A Captain Solo-cicle!"

"Yes," Han said patiently, "except not ice, because they're freezing me in carbon."

"_What if he doesn't survive? He's worth a lot to me too."_ The random man in the stupidly colourful costume said to Vader in a voice that sounded as though it was being transmitted over an intercom.

"Who _is _that guy?" She asked, frowning.

"Boba Fett," Han muttered, pulling a face, "Jabba the Hutt's lapdog. I imagine he's here to take me back to Tatooine, assuming I live."

"You might _die_?" Alice said, her jaw dropping. He narrowed his eyes at her, then glanced down at Leia, who held his gaze steadily. _How is she so calm?_ For her part, Alice was on the edge of a full-scale panic attack.

"_The Empire will compensate you if he dies,"_ Vader said dismissively to the rainbow dude. _"Put him in!"_

Chewie roared, and immediately started bashing away the storm troopers as they tried to grab Han. _Oh, Chewie…_

"Chewie!" Han yelled, "Chewie, stop! Stop! Chewie, this won't help me!" From behind them came the sharp clicking of blasters being cocked, and she realised they were now completely surrounded by cautious storm troopers, their weapons raised.

"Chewie!" Slowly, he stopped fighting, and wailed mournfully, "Listen to me. Save your strength. There'll be another time. You have to take care of Alice and Leia, alright? You hear me?"

Her eyes smarting, Alice stepped forward, and rested her hand lightly on Chewie's arm as the storm troopers cuffed him, instinctively knotting her fingers through the thick fur. "It's okay. We're okay." Chewie groaned but seemed to give in. Han nodded at her, gave her a tight smile and a quick kiss on the forehead.

Then he turned his gaze to Leia, and Alice could have cried at the look he gave her. It was apologetic and scared and loving all at once. And when they kissed, she genuinely thought her heart might break. _Damn all this love. I can't take it!_ Two storm troopers moved in and pulled Han away, breaking the kiss.

At once, Alice reached out and took Leia's limp hand in hers, hoping to give some facsimile of comfort. For a moment, Leia did nothing, then slowly her fingers curled around Alice's. The princess leaned forward, her eyes fixed on Han, "I love you."

"I know," he replied, as the circular platform he stood on was lowered into the floor. Alice bit her lip. She could still see his face, just, through the steam that was billowing through the vented floor. Then one of the little gnome-like creatures that she had seen wandering the hallways pressed a button, and Han disappeared entirely.

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**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	20. Run Rabbit Run

Hey dudes - everyone enjoying revision? :/ Silly exams taking up free time. But hey, we've got to Chapter 20, woo! We're also nearly at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. :O Also, also, getting closer to my review target of 100 reviews! Yay!

**Shout-outs **this week go to: **Time-Dog**,** Taboo22**,** Katyperry22 **and a guest called **Me. **I like your style.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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_Oh god, oh god, oh god…this is so not good._ Alice thought positively as she watched a huge metal clamp type thing descend upon the hole in the floor into which Han had just been lowered. She was unfamiliar with the way that carbon freezing worked, but since having anything that looked like a garbage crusher moving towards you was probably a bad thing, this was…well, probably a bad thing.

There was a loud clunk from the floor, and a sharp hissing noise, and slowly, the clamp began to rise again, this time pulling a large tablet of what looked like graphite with it. _Maybe it is graphite, because that's a form of carbon. Wait a minute…chemistry knowledge, why do you come back at a time like this?!_

Beside her, Leia gave a horrified gasp as the clamp released, and drew back to reveal Han's frozen form, protruding part way from his pencil prison. Two of the little gnomes went over to it, and pushed it hard onto the floor. It toppled, and hit the ground with a loud, metallic bang. Alice winced, and squeezed Leia's hand.

Chewie whined, and rested a big fluffy paw on Alice's shoulder. She leaned back against him, taking comfort from the warmth of his fur and the loud beating of his heart. When she looked back, Lando was bent over Han's body, studying the blinking lights on the side of the tablet.

"_Well, Calrissian?"_ Vader asked from the top of the stairs, _"Did he survive?"_

"Yes, he's alive," Lando said, "and in perfect hibernation."

"_He's all yours, bounty hunter,"_ Vader said, to the man in the fabulous pastel ensemble, and to his little gnome minions, _"reset the chamber for Skywalker."_

"Skywalker has just landed, my lord."

Alice closed her eyes. _No, no, no! Luke, please, just stay away… Could this day get any worse?_

"_Good,"_ said Vader, _"see to it that he finds his way in here."_ Lando glanced over his shoulder at Vader, and moved quickly over to join Alice and Leia. He reached out to take Leia's arm, but she jerked away from him, her eyes still fixed on Han.

"_Calrissian. Take the women and the wookiee to my ship."_

"You said they'd be left in the city under my supervision," Lando said, outraged.

"_I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."_

Lando swore as Vader departed. Alice ignored him, and turning to Leia, pulled her into a hug. Her friend hid her face in Alice's neck, and she felt dampness against her skin – Leia was crying. She bit her lip, and rubbed Leia's back, trying to think of anything she could possibly say to hide how much this situation sucked.

"Come on," Lando said, through gritted teeth, "I need to get you to Lord Vader's ship."

"He trusted you," Alice hissed at him, "Han trusted you."

He glared at her, "This isn't my fault. Vader changed the terms. What can I do when the second most powerful being in the galaxy changes the terms? Now come on."

Stubbornly refusing to move, Alice murmured to Leia, "Do we go?"

"We don't have a choice," Leia said, straightening up and wiping her eyes in a business-like fashion. "Our only hope is that Luke will escape. I think it's a little too late for us." She met Alice's eyes; and Alice felt her stomach plummet at the look of hopelessness in her friend's gaze. She had actually…given up.

"Come on," Lando repeated, impatiently.

"Fine," Alice snapped, keeping a protective arm around Leia's shoulders as he chivvied them up the stairs and out of the door, "we're coming."

She regretted that she hadn't been here long enough to know the corridors they were traversing – maybe they could have tried to get away, if they'd at least known where they were. Instead, they were forced to follow in mutinous silence, led by Lando and surrounded by guards.

They'd been walking for about five minutes when Alice heard, not too far away, the sound of a blaster being fired. She cocked her head, and glanced at Leia, who gave her a brief nod, indicating she'd heard it too.

_Who'd be firing a blaster? Maybe it's…oh, come on, Ally, what are the chances of it being Luke?_

But as they rounded the corner, there suddenly came the sound of running footsteps from their left, and as Alice glanced in the direction of the noise, she caught a glimpse of a shadow on the corridor wall.

Their guards spotted it too, and a moment later, the corridor was filled with gunfire. Alice flinched back against Chewie, then found herself being bundled away by one of the men in grey. She struggled back, trying to see who the person in the tunnel was, trying to see if it was- for a fraction of a second, she caught a glimpse of familiar blonde hair, and screamed as loud as her damaged throat would manage, "Luke!"

Leia heard her, and yelled his name too, taking over where Alice was too weak to shout, "Luke! Luke, don't, it's a trap! It's a trap!" Chewie added his roar to the din, before they were forced through a doorway and away from Luke.

Alice was panting, and felt strangely energised. _Luke…did he hear us? Could he even understand what we were trying to tell him? I hope he's okay…_

She glanced behind her, and bumped into Lando's back. She blinked in confusion as he suddenly started taking the guns off the storm troopers and giving them to some other people with guns who had just turned up out of nowhere.

"Um, did I miss something?"

"Well done," Lando said, to his mysterious chums, "hold them in the security tower. And keep it quiet." And just like that, all armed people just miraculously disappeared.

"What's happening?" Alice whispered to Leia.

Lando handed one massive blaster to Alice and one to Leia and then started un-cuffing Chewie. "We're getting out of here."

Leia glared at him, "Do you think that after what you did to Han, we're going to let you-"

Turned out un-cuffing the seven foot tall wookiee with a grudge wasn't the best idea. As soon as he was free, Chewie roared, and started to throttle Lando. Alice stared in horror as he wheezed and struggled. The memory of Vader's attack rose up strong in her mind, and had a physical effect on her: she could feel her own throat closing up in panic, leaving her short of breath.

"Chewie, stop," she said, grabbing the wookiee's arms and trying to get him to release Lando, "let him go."

He growled at her, but otherwise ignored her command. Lando rolled his eyes towards her, and choked something that sounded like, 'Han'. She stared at him, suddenly remembering the way he'd squeezed her hand, as if in apology, just before giving them over to Vader. One little hand squeeze wasn't enough to excuse him for everything that had happened today…but it was enough for him not to be killed this second, at least. Desperate, she tried again, "Please, Chewie! Killing him won't help anything. Think about it, we need him to help us get out of here. Let him go."

With a whine, Chewie released Lando, who fell to his knees, coughing. Trying to keep her own intense feeling of relief hidden, she turned to Lando and said, "Alright, what were you trying to say just now?"

He didn't answer for a moment, taking a second to get his breath back before replying, "Han…there's still a chance to save Han. We need…to go to the East Platform."

"Chewie," Leia said briskly. The two of them moved off instantly, but Alice hesitated, and after a brief pause offered a hand to Lando.

He glanced at her, and said, fervently, "Thanks."

She raised her eyebrows at him, "Thank me later, when we're safely out of here and half a galaxy away from Darth Vader."

"Fair enough."

"You'd better lead the way," she said, grabbing his hand and yanking him up, "Leia's too proud to say when she's lost. Between her and Han it's a miracle we manage to get anything done."

They caught up with the others quickly, and made their way up the levels to the luxury city skyline. Now they were running along lovely soft carpeted floors, past balconies with spectacular views. "Wish I lived here," Alice panted as they went, "how much does a place like this cost?"

"Around twenty-thousand credits."

"So not in my non-existent price range then. Wow. I just realised I have no money. Or possessions. Exciting, isn't it?"

Suddenly, something beeped behind her. Alice gasped, "Artoo!"

"Artoo? Did someone say Artoo?" Threepio called from up ahead.

"Artoo, darling, I've missed you!" (Ironically at this point, Alice also missed the weird look Lando was giving her.

"Artoo, Artoo, where have you been? Chewbacca, really, turn around!"

Chewie roared. "Hurry, hurry," the protocol droid urged them all along, which Alice thought was a bit much coming from someone with no legs. "We're trying to save Han from the bounty hunter!"

Artoo beeped loudly, and Threepio replied, "Well, at least you're still in one piece – look what happened to me!"

They burst out on to the East Platform, only to see the only ship there – presumably Boba Fett's – already taking off.

Chewie put a few desperate shots into the side of the ship, but they simply glanced off, and before long, it was out of range.

"Damn it," Alice said, staring desperately into the distance as Han was carried away from them, taken to whatever fate awaited him back on Tatooine.

"Chewie, behind you!"

She turned at the sound of Leia's shout, and groaned. "Oh joy."

Storm troopers were firing at them through the open door, blocking their only exit, unless they wanted to take a dive off the side of this huge skyscraper. She took a deep breath, and trying to recall everything Captain Starn had told her in the midst of one of the most emotionally and physically hectic days of her entire life, she raised the blaster she'd just remembered she was carrying and started to shoot.

And to her very great and everlasting surprise when she looked back on this memory, one of the storm troopers crumpled at once as her first shot struck him in the shoulder. In fact, she was so surprised that she forgot to continue shooting and nearly got hit by the downed storm trooper's chum when he shot back in retaliation.

"Did you see that?" Alice babbled, as Leia pulled her away down the corridor, "I shot him!" She paused, and her eyes widened, "Oh my god, I shot someone!"

"Yes, yes, it was very impressive," Leia said, "now, run!"

"Where are we going?"

"The _Falcon_," she said grimly, "it's our best hope of getting out of here."

"Great," Alice said, puffing, "more running."

She wasn't wrong. They sprinted along a corridor, then up some stairs, then took yet another awkward lift ride, then ran along another corridor, all the while being pursued by grumpy storm troopers. In short, it was like a cross country lesson from hell. In her head, Alice tried imagining some epic music playing in the background. It didn't help.

Finally they reached a large bronze door that looked quite out of place against the white walls all around. "Thank the lord," Alice said, leaning against the door and trying to get her breath back.

Lando started tapping away on the keypad to the right. Nothing happened.

"So," said Alice, rocking backwards and forwards on her heels, "this is awkward."

"Alice," Leia said, rolling her eyes at her.

"The security code has been changed," Lando explained, through gritted teeth.

"Artoo!" Threepio said from his cute little sling on Chewie's back, "You can tell the computer to override the security systems!"

Artoo beeped excitedly, and rolled over to the door frame. Leia and Alice gazed twitchily about them while the little droid hacked into Cloud City's main computer terminal. Lando meanwhile, hurried across the hall and plucked a small microphone-esque device from a socket on the wall, "Attention, this is Lando Calrissian. The Empire's taking control of the city – I advise that everyone leave before more Imperial troops arrive."

"Wow," Alice said, as he replaced the microphone, "that was almost noble. Well done."

Suddenly there was a crackling, sparking sound, and a shriek from Artoo. The three humans spun to see smoke issuing from the panel where Artoo was working.

"You okay buddy?"

"The terminal's fried," Lando said quickly, "we'll never get out this way. Come on."

He grabbed Alice by the hand (she made a face at Leia) and dragged her away down the corridor to the left. They waded through hordes of frantic citizens, all scrambling in response to Lando's alert. Alice detached herself from Lando as quickly as possible and jogged at Leia's side, her blaster held awkwardly in her hands.

"There!" Lando pointed to a bronze door almost identical to the one they had just left. Artoo and Chewie headed for it at once, but Leia ran off to the left down a corridor. "Leia!" Alice called, "Come back!"

"I'll go with her," Lando said, "stay with Chewie."

"Fine. Be careful!"

Alice and Chewie crouched at the corner of the alcove to fend off the seemingly never-ending wave of storm troopers, while Artoo tried to open the door and Threepio shouted at Artoo. "We're not interested in the hyperdrive on the _Millennium Falcon_, it's fixed!"

Artoo shrieked, and Threepio shrieked back, "Just open the door, you stupid lump of metal!"

"Hey!" Alice said, sitting up and pointing at Threepio, "he's doing his best, you know."

Artoo gave a cheerful whistle, and the door sprang open, "See? Leia! Lando! Get down here now!"

"I never doubted you for a second," exclaimed Threepio joyously, "Wonderful!"

"Sure," Alice said, rolling her eyes and dragging Chewie out of the door and onto the platform. The wind whipped all around them, making Alice's jacket snap loudly and Chewie's fur ripple. The golden glow of the rising sun that had lit the clouds when they first arrived had shifted to a shadowed crimson that indicated night was on its way in.

Ahead of them sat the _Falcon_, looking exactly the same as ever, i.e., like an absolute mess. Alice turned to say something witty to Han…then she remembered.

They reached the ship running at full speed, and as Chewie hit the switch to open the ramp, Alice turned to see Leia and Lando pelting along behind them, chased by a whole contingency of soldiers. Frustrated, she yelled, "You guys are just extras! Doing this movie won't even help your acting careers!"

Chewie growled at her as if to say, '_Crazy girl_,' and picking her up by the scruff of her neck, plonked her inside the _Falcon_.

"Leia!" Alice yelled, from where Chewie had placed her on the floor, the legless Threepio by her side, "Get your skinny arse in here right now!"

A moment later, Leia appeared, "No need to shout, sweetheart."

"Sweetheart?" Alice said, raising her eyebrows, "Oh, great, you're turning into Han."

Leia grinned, and dashed off for the cockpit, where Chewie was already in position, buckled in and raring to go, if the little yips coming from his mouth were anything to go by. Leia slid into Han's seat and together, she and the wookiee lifted the craft off the ground and into the air, away from the storm troopers at last.

"Thank goodness," Alice said, flopping into her seat with a sigh as they swept away, "I thought they'd never get bored."

Now that she was safely stowed away in the familiar cockpit of the _Millennium Falcon_, she pulled her shoes off and leant back in her chair as far as she could, trying to ignore the various aches and pains that had sprung up from nowhere all over her poked his head around the door, and promptly flung himself into the only unoccupied seat in the room, "That was close."

"You can say that again," Leia said, her voice suddenly brittle and hard, "don't think we've forgiven you, just because-"

"Leia," Alice groaned, "we've just finished fighting for our lives, yet again. Can we take a couple of minutes before you start shouting at people?"

Leia sniffed, but acquiesced, "Fine."

Silence fell. With the adrenaline that had been keeping her going starting to drain away, the pain in Alice's throat suddenly seemed to intensify. Swallowing hurt, and the skin where Vader had grabbed her felt swollen and tender. Lando saw her wincing and leaning over, tilted her chin up like Leia had. She clenched her jaw at his touch, but allowed him to look, taking some small satisfaction in the way he paled beneath his mahogany complexion.

Leia glanced around, and bit her lip, seemingly caught between wanting to berate Lando and comfort Alice, "You won't notice it in a couple of days."

"That must mean it looks atrocious now, right?" Alice said, raising her eyebrows at Leia. Her friend looked away, clearly too uncomfortable to either confirm or deny the question.

"I'm sorry, Alice," Lando said, in a hushed voice, "I didn't think he would want to hurt _you_-"

"But it's alright that Han got frozen in a lump of carbonite?" Leia said, fiercely, "I don't believe you. You're-"

She stopped abruptly, her eyes fixed on something outside of the window.

"Leia?" Alice said, leaning forward, "What's the matter?"

"Luke…we've got to go back."

"What?" Lando said, staring at her.

"I know where Luke is!"

"You do?" Alice demanded, "Great! Let's go pick him up!"

"Wait a minute," Lando objected, "what about those fighters?"

"I don't think you quite understand," Alice said threateningly, turning to face him, "we haven't seen him for ages. He is our friend, and he just threw himself into a trap to save us. Not only that, but he is the biggest chance we've got of taking down the Empire. So we're going to pick him up. Get it?"

Lando shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and said nothing.

"Right," she said, satisfied, "Leia, Chewie? Take us back."

"Yes, ma'am," Leia said, sounding delighted.

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	21. Did Someone Say Cliffhanger?

Phew! I'm back! Sorry for the delay - just come back for the summer term, and boy, has it been busy. :P I'm afraid my updates might be less regular in the next couple of months, because I've got exams and the end of term and then I'm going to Africa for three weeks (yay!), but I'll do my best to keep you up to speed on all of Alice's doings. :)

This week's **shout-outs** go to: **Taboo22**, **crossMIRAGE19**, **Time-Dog**, **sarahmichellegellarfan1**, **Katyperry22**, **Zyanadryn** and **Soup is Good**. Thank you all very, very much for your reviews; every time I find one in my inbox, it makes me smile. :) I think a special mention must be made for **Taboo22**, who has been a consistent reviewer since the beginning of this story - you may have a cookie and a smile from Luke.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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As the _Millennium Falcon _looped back towards Cloud City, Alice sat in her chair, gnawing frantically at her fingernails. The ache in her throat was getting worse and worse, probably because she continued to try to talk, even though her voice was already reduced to a hoarse rasp. All she could think about was Luke: was he okay? Did he know about Darth Vader yet? Would he be pleased to see them? Would he-

"Alice!"

She jumped and looked at Lando, and coughed out a "Huh?"

"You're sort of…rocking. I think you need to calm down."

Unable to speak clearly enough to retort, she settled for sticking her tongue out at him.

"Alice," Leia said warningly, catching the gesture out of the corner of her eye.

"Look!" Lando suddenly flung his arm out, pointing through the front window, "There's someone up there!"

They had reached Cloud City, and were coming up on the flat underside of the mushroom-shaped section. Squinting, Alice could make out a number of narrow poles, like television aerials, protruding from the metal. And on one of them, there was the dim and distant shape of a person, clinging desperately to the main shaft of the pole.

"It's Luke," Leia said, though how she was so certain, Alice wasn't quite sure. "Chewie, slow down and we'll pick him up. Lando, open the top hatch."

Their mutual moustachioed friend disappeared from the cockpit and Alice took his place leaning down over Leia's shoulder, peering through the window in an attempt to see out of it more clearly. As they grew closer, the figure of the stranded individual became more defined. Alice let out a wisp of noise that was as close to a shriek of joy as she could get. "It is Luke!"

Chewie burbled eagerly as Leia gently brought the _Falcon_ up alongside the aerial that Luke was hanging on to. "Steady Chewie," she cautioned. Luke disappeared from view as between them, Leia and Chewie positioned the ship so that they hung directly below him, in prime position for Lando to reach through the hatch in the roof and carry him down. Alice shifted restlessly from foot to foot until she heard Lando's voice over the intercom, saying, "I've got him, let's go!"

Immediately she turned and dashed from the room, her heart pounding, stumbling a little as the _Falcon _dropped away from Cloud City.

She met Luke and Lando in the middle of a corridor and skidded to a halt, panting. Luke looked up, probably at the sound of her hyperventilating, and Alice felt her heart physically trip up at the look of open and weary relief that spread across his face when he saw her – though it could have been because of the panting.

"Alice."

He was sweaty, dirty, bruised and bloodied, and the sleeve of his right arm was smoking slightly. Her eye was drawn to the twisting, smouldering fabric, and she had to stop a gasp as she realised what she hadn't seen at first: that where his right hand should be, there was nothing, only gaping space.

_It was Vader, _she realised, with faint horror, _they must have fought…lightsabers…oh my god, he cut his hand off._

She was startled back from her thoughts as Lando stepped forward, bringing Luke with him, "Can you take him, Alice? I need to help Leia."

She nodded once, preferring not to speak, and held out her arm towards them. Lando unceremoniously deposited Luke next to her, then hared away, his cape flapping behind him.

As soon as Lando stepped away, Luke's entire weight was suddenly resting on Alice, and she staggered slightly, shocked by the knowledge that he was so weak he couldn't support himself at all. Then she regained her balance, and wrapped her free arm around his waist, propping him up, "Come on," she rasped, "you need to lie down."

_What?! He's had his hand forcibly amputated; he needs major intensive care, not a lie down and a cup of tea! Honestly, woman!_

She helped him stagger down the corridorto the tiny, cramped cabin that she just about remembered was Han's, though honestly she really didn't care at that moment. Getting through the door side by side was a challenge, but they managed it, and Alice somehow half-lowered, half-dropped him onto the bed.

"Alice?" Luke said groggily, as she clumsily shoved a pillow under his head and pulled the blanket up to his chest, "What's wrong with your voice?"

"Nothing," she said, cheerfully, though the effect was slightly ruined by the way the word cracked and disappeared halfway through. "Are you alright?" She wheezed, deflecting his attention away from her.

"Been better," he replied; clearly he was trying for humour, but he choked on the last word, and it came out sounding more like a death rattle.

_Oh my god, why did I think that? He's not dying! He'll be fine!_

"You're going to be fine," she said as loudly and confidently as she could, trying to reassure herself as much as him, "absolutely fine."

"Vader did that to you, didn't he?"

Alice flinched, in spite of herself, at the sound of the name. Embarrassed, she fiddled with a corner of Luke's blanket, trying not to meet his gaze as she wondered how in the world she was going to answer that one. When she looked up, however, Luke had sagged back against the bed, and his eyes were shut.

Alice panicked.

"Luke? Luke!" She put a hand on his chest, and freaked out even more when she couldn't feel a heartbeat. Looking back, she would admit that what she did next was probably a little extreme. But it had definitely seemed rational at the time.

Scrabbling at his jacket, she'd ripped it back, and pressed her hand even harder against his heart, her fingernails digging into his exposed skin in her fear. And that – because Alice's life was, after all, nothing more than embarrassment after embarrassment – was how Leia found her when she burst into the room.

Leia stared at Alice. Alice stared back, her hand still clawed over Luke's surprisingly muscular chest, where, now that someone else was in the room, she could feel a weak but steady thumping.

"I was…uh…"

"Is he alright?" Leia cut her off, clearly not concerned with Alice's antics at present.

"I don't know," Alice said, hesitantly. She glanced at Luke's still face, and bit her lip, "His hand…" Leia frowned, and she scanned him quickly. Then her eyes widened. "Oh no…"

"You can replace it though, right? You can…" Her words faded out again, like she was wearing a microphone and someone was playing with the levels. Wincing, she put a hand to her throat; it felt dangerously raw. _What I wouldn't give for a Strepsil._

Leia nodded slowly, "Yes. Yes, we should be able to replace it for him."

"Good," said Alice, pressing the back of her hand to Luke's clammy forehead. It was unnaturally warm, and his hair was matted with sweat. The ship jolted suddenly, and Leia had to grab the door frame to stop herself from crashing into Alice. "I'll go and help Lando. Stay with him."

Alice nodded, but inside where her thoughts still had a voice, her answer was much fuller: _I'm not leaving him for bloody anything._

True to her (sort of) word, she stayed exactly where she was, bent over Luke, who drifted in and out of consciousness, his temperature spiking until it reached fever-pitch. Alice bit her lip and fretted over him, but there was very little she could do. She supposed that the fever was probably the result of some kind of infection, possibly from the blow that had taken off his hand…but when she had gathered up the courage to look at the stump of his right hand, it was a clean cut, blackened and burnt, as if cauterised. _Well, it would be, if it was done with a lightsaber. Maybe it's shock-induced…_

"First you disappear, then you reappear, then you faint," she murmured to herself, wrapping the blanket more tightly around him (and doing the best she could to hide the fact that the front of his shirt was in tatters) as he tossed and turned, "Should have known you'd cause me trouble, Skywalker."

Perhaps in response to his name, his eyes, the bright blue colour unusually clouded, opened briefly. He seemed to be finding it difficult to focus on her, and she gripped the fingers of his remaining hand, and held tight.

"Is this a dream?"

Alice forced a laugh, though it didn't really sound like one, "That's my line."

He struggled briefly, clearly trying to remember the situation she was referring to, "Oh. I guess so. Sorry."

The fact that his first instinct was to apologise was just about the sweetest thing she'd ever heard, and she couldn't resist reaching out to smooth back his sweat-darkened hair.

He stilled at her touch, and his eyes seemed to properly focus on her for the first time, "Alice…it seems like it's been such a long time since we were on Hoth. I've…learned so much. My master…he tried to stop me from coming here, to Cloud City. He told me I was making a mistake."

Alice didn't quite know what to say to that. Obviously, she was upset that he'd been injured and that he'd had to confront Vader and nearly died, but she was truthfully quite glad he was here. _Umm…_

Luckily, the effort of making conversation was clearly taking its toll on him, and he sighed, "So tired."

She offered him a soothing smile, "Go to sleep then, numpty."

He was clearly in such a bad state that he couldn't even ask her what a numpty was, simply settling himself further into his pillows, his eyes half-closed.

"Just go to sleep," said Alice encouragingly, continuing to stroke his hair and resisting the urge to wince at how hot his forehead was, "and when you wake up, you'll feel better."

"Really?" He said, watching her, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"Positive. Sort of. No...?" She shrugged helplessly, and he smiled. Moved by a sudden impulse, Alice leaned down and pressed her lips lightly to his forehead. He blinked, and she blushed. Then a weak smile curled his lips, and he closed his eyes. Alice waited, running her hand lightly over his hair until eventually he fell back into his restless sleep.

She let out a sigh of relief, and slumped forward, letting her head rest against his side while she tried to massage her bruised throat. _Oh, Luke…I hope he's okay…_ It was scary, seeing him incapacitated like this – much worse than when he'd gotten lost in the snows on Hoth.

Above her, Luke murmured something softly in his sleep, and Alice sighed by way of a reply. She'd hoped he'd sleep peacefully and get some proper rest; then she might be able to as well. All delusions of a quiet doze were shattered though when very suddenly, Luke rolled over sharply in his sleep, dislodging Alice and leaving her with a throbbing temple. She frowned up at him, and saw his lips move – this time, she could make out a word: "Father." She blinked, and leaned closer uncertainly. "Luke?"

"Vader!" Quite suddenly, Luke jolted upright, and cracked his skull hard against Alice's, which in his state, probably wasn't very good for him. She swore, and put a hand to her head, but Luke didn't even seem to notice. Throwing back his blanket, he got to his feet, though he still looked far from well.

"Luke? Where are you going?"

He ignored her, and stumbled out of the door, leaving his blanket fluttering to the floor. She cursed again, and hurried after him, "Luke! Come back!" She chased him all the way to the cockpit, and by the time they got there, she was completely voiceless from begging, threatening, cajoling and attempting to otherwise reprimand the most stubborn-headed fool in the galaxy.

He leaned forward between Leia and Chewie, while Alice lurked grumpily in the corner, her arms folded and her expression extremely disapproving.

They'd left Bespin's atmosphere and were currently flying full in the face of an Imperial star destroyer, which as far as she could tell, wasn't the brightest idea they'd ever had.

"It's Vader," Luke muttered, staring apprehensively out of the window. Alice watched him, taken aback by the tone of utter certainty in his voice. _How do you know? _That was the question she would have asked, had she physically been able to. Before she could figure out some way of signing her inquiry to him, Luke's eyes snapped shut, and he stumbled back into the chair, raising one hand as if to ward something off. Alice was beside him in a second; unable to say anything, she put a hand on his shoulder and gazed a little desperately into his face instead. Luke didn't respond, to her growing concern. _Don't do this to me, don't freak me out_. She barely even noticed the ship suddenly lurching forward into light speed as she crouched next to him; fear eliminated social awkwardness, and she rested a hand on his cheek, trying to get any type of reaction from him.

"We did it!" Leia's voice broke in, loud and clear, "We got away! Now all we need to do is regroup with the rest of the fleet!"

Alice glanced over to see Leia turning towards them, her eyes set on Luke. Embarrassed, she stepped away from him, allowing Leia to take her place. The princess hugged him tightly, and helping him to his feet, led him back out of the cockpit. She watched them go, then with a sigh, flopped into the captain's chair and propped her heels lazily on the control panel. She felt completely wrung out, both mentally and physically.

"You alright, kid?"

She started, and swung around in her chair, certain that it would be Han she found standing behind her. But it wasn't. It was Lando.

Alice rubbed her eyes tiredly, "Fine, I guess."

"You should really get something for that throat," he said, sitting down next to her.

She turned to him, and made a '_like what?_' kind of gesture: a shrug combined with an eyebrow raise combined with upturned palms.

"I don't know…"

She snorted, "Helpful." She laid her hand tentatively on her throat; pain flared and tears sprung into her eyes. Abruptly, she thought of home, for the first time in what felt like months.

"I was supposed to be watching films with my friend," she said, forcing the words out as clearly as she could, "before this whole thing started. I wish this was a film…watching Han being frozen and Luke losing a hand would suck a lot less if I was just watching the movie with Emi." Even as she said it though, Alice wasn't sure if she meant it. Sure, what had happened to Luke and Han was horrible – but if the alternative was never meeting them at all, this was preferable, wasn't it?

Lando blinked, "I'm sorry…I also don't know what you're talking about."

She sighed, and shook her head, "Story of my life."

Lando grinned and settled down next to her, "You never did mention. How did you get mixed up with all this?"

"What, with princesses and Jedi and dictatorial dark lords of evil, you mean? Dunno, really. Everyone keeps asking me that but the truth is I don't have any more idea than the rest of you."

He laughed, "Fair enough. But you seem to be holding up okay."

"Do I? Well, that's impressive." There was a rustling behind them, and Alice glanced up to see Leia entering behind them. "Is Luke okay?"

"He sounds better than you do," Leia said drily, though her eyes betrayed her concern, "I convinced him to settle down again, and I hooked him up to a medi-pack, see if we can't bring his fever down. I brought this for you too." She held out a small pack of pills, like a strip of Neurofen or Ibruprofen at home.

"What are they?" Alice croaked. Leia winced at how weak her voice had gotten, and said, "They'll help to soothe some of the pain. There's nothing we can do about the bruising though…"

_The bruising, _she thought glumly, laying her own fingers gently over the lances of dull pain on her neck, _how am I bruised when he didn't even touch me? Luke's definitely going to notice that when he can think straight._

"You should get some rest," Leia continued, studying her with obvious worry, "don't worry; Lando, Chewie and I will keep an eye on things."

"Like whether we get attacked again, or something similar?" Alice suggested.

Leia smiled faintly, "Yeah. Take those pills, and go to sleep."

She got to her feet, and tossed the general company a lazy salute, "Yes, ma'am."

"Sleep well kid," Lando called, as she left.

_Yeah…fat chance of that._

BREAK

Alice didn't like to think of herself as an overly dramatic person, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. So when she woke up screaming shrilly through a throat that felt like it was on fire because of a nightmare about Darth Vader, she was more than a little embarrassed. Clapping a hand to her mouth to stifle the banshee-style wail, she turned her head to the door, hoping against hope that no one had heard her.

When it appeared that no one was going to come bursting into the makeshift bedroom she'd fashioned for herself (it was basically a storage unit, one free of bare wires and sharp tools, something of a rarity on the _Falcon_), she relaxed, and slumped back against the wall, panting.

In the dream she'd been trapped in the dark, with nothing but the sound of that horrible rattling breath, and the feel of fingers around her throat. Alice shivered, and pressed her hands to her eyes, eager to be rid of the general yucky tense sweatiness that accompanied a nightmare.

The _Millennium Falcon _hummed quietly, warmth seeping from the floor and walls as it bulleted through hyperspace. She wondered how long they'd been flying now, and how much further they had to go before they reached the Rebel fleet.

Something clanked within the bowels of the ship, and Alice flinched. _Damn it, _she thought tiredly, _get it together, girl._ Unwilling to sit scared and alone in the dark, she got to her feet, and poked her head out into the small corridor her cupboard was on. Little safety-type lights flickered on as she walked down the hall. _Like friendly glow-worms. Well, now I know I'm tired._

Without knowing where she was going exactly, she found herself plodding the route to Luke's room. Hesitating slightly, she pressed the opening switch and slipped inside. Luke was lying on his side with his back to her, but as the door open, he flinched, and rolled to face her, his eyes wide and straining to see through the dim light.

_Oops. I think I might have startled him. _"Sorry. It's me," she rasped, her voice still weak, holding up her hands towards him, "how are you?"

"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep," he said, settling back, his injured arm cradled against his chest, "I feel better. Sort of."

"Good," she said, coming towards him and sitting down on the floor beside his bed. Now that she was here, she realised why she'd come. She'd already decided not to tell Leia about her scary dream, but Luke…

They sat in silence for a bit, listening to the pulse of the engines and the faint beeping of the ship's computer. Then Luke spoke, his tone even, "He did hurt you, didn't he. He choked you."

Alice put her hand to her throat almost reflexively, her eyelids fluttering at the memory, and said, "Yes."

He nodded slowly, "He told me that he hurt you. He was trying to distract me."

For some reason, that made her feel guilty; she'd been used as a means of breaking Luke's concentration, which would have contributed to…his injury. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He took a deep breath, and tilted his head to face her. His expression was grave, and Alice unconsciously readied herself for something big.

"I have to tell you something, Alice."

"Okay."

"It's something…secret, something I can't tell Leia." _Where is he going with this?_ "Please. You have to promise me you won't tell her."

She frowned. _Oh lord…please say he's not going to tell me that he's in love with Leia…If he does…I don't know what I'm going to say…_ "Okay. I promise."

Luke turned away from her as he said, choking out the words as if they were physically painful, "Darth Vader…is my father."

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	22. And You Thought Your Life Was Bad

Hey dudes - I couldn't leave you waiting too long after that cliffhanger, now could I? :) Also, I think it needs to be said...100 reviews! You guys really are absolutely awesome - thanks so much! Force hugs (the nice kind) for all of you!

This week's **shout-outs **go to: **sarahmichellegellarfan1**, **Time-Dog**, **Art****istsChild93**, **Taboo22**, **AsMadAsMurdock**, **Katyperry22**, and three different **Guests**, one of whom informs me they've been with this story since chapter one. For that I say - thank you very much, and have a cookie and a big wookiee hug from Chewie. :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

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**_Super quick recap: Team Jedi just escaped from Cloud City and Luke just told Alice Darth Vader is his father and basically_ OMG.**

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_Damn it. This is worse. This is far worse. What do I do?!_

Alice put her hand to her mouth to hide her reaction, which was something between guilt and fear. "How did you…?"

"He told me." He met her eyes, his mouth trembling slightly, but clearly trying to stay calm, "Alice, I want you to know…that I am not like him. I'm not…"

"No," she said at once, reaching out to take his remaining hand where it rested on his chest, "no, I know you're not. You're…one of the good guys." She smiled, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work. Oblivious to her attempts at humour, he gazed at her fingers, intertwined with his own, then slowly, he said, "Ben must have known."

Alice winced."…Yeah?"

"Yes. He…my father was his apprentice. _Vader_ was his apprentice." He met her gaze, his expression hurt and confused, "Why didn't he tell me?"

"I…" She hesitated, her insides twisting with guilt, "I don't know…maybe he thought you'd want to hurt him, and you'd put yourself in danger…he was probably just trying to protect you."

Luke gave a short, doubtful laugh, "I thought you'd say that."

"It's true though," she protested, her voice cracking with the strain, "Ben would only keep something like this from you because he thought it was for the best. You trusted his judgement in everything else."

"Yes, but this?" He said bitterly, "Did he have a right to keep this from me?"

Alice looked away, unable to answer, partly because her voice was almost completely gone, but also because she simply had no words to face his questions. _Oh, he's so right. I should never have kept this a secret from him. He needed to know. I have to tell him. Don't I?_

She opened her mouth, hesitating, but before she could speak Luke had dropped his gaze to their joined hands and started to talk again, his voice weary and apologetic, "I'm sorry, Alice. I don't want to upset you."

_Damn it. _She felt almost sick with her own guilt as he went on, "Thank you." And then, because the universe apparently hated her and wanted her to suffer, he gave her a warm, tired and indescribably lovely smile.

_I'm a terrible person…_

She stared into Luke's handsome, trusting face, and all she could think about was how he had trusted her with his darkest secret, a truth so horrible he couldn't face it alone, and now she was going to reveal that she had not only known all along, but that she hadn't told him. It was completely going against the trust he'd put in her, and though it wouldn't exactly be true to say that it had been hard-won, she was so pathetically afraid of the pain of losing it that instead of opening her mouth and saying, _"Luke, I knew that Darth Vader was your father and I didn't tell you this entire time"_, she said, "I should…leave you to sleep."

He gave a miniscule smile, and nodded, "Leia will have us up early to start planning Han's rescue."

_Oh god. I completely forgot about Han. Life really does suck._

She got to her feet, but he didn't let go of her hand, stopping her from leaving, "Thank you, Alice. You're a true friend. May the Force be with you." She couldn't look at him, couldn't even reply.

"Alice?"

"Night, Luke," she rasped, pulling her hand away from his.

She walked to the bridge, feeling a bit like a zombie. It was like she was being haunted by the image of Luke's smile, the way his fingers had squeezed hers as he'd apologised for upsetting her, like she hadn't just chickened out of telling him that she'd completely betrayed him.

_Why did I completely forget about this until now? If I'd remembered…but Ben made me promise not to tell him. Thanks a lot, Ben._

If the old man heard her, he chose not to comment this time. With a sigh, Alice flopped down in one of the chairs and rested her head in her hands. She felt miserable, both physically and emotionally. Her throat ached, her legs were sore and crampy from all the running (and sleeping in a broom cupboard) and there was a lovely feeling of guilt sitting heavy on her chest. Not to mention, there was the faint and lingering fear that Vader would suddenly burst out of a dark corner and start throttling her. She groaned. _Great, now I'm paranoid as well._

A hand closed around her upper arm, and she flinched, staring around madly for her assailant.

Leia looked down at her, wearing an expression of concern.

Alice groaned again, and let her forehead thunk against the table top, massaging her temples gently. "What's the matter?" Leia asked, dropping to one knee beside her, like a mother, or a primary school teacher. "Alice?"

With an effort, she lifted her head, and gave her friend what she hoped was a weak smile. Going from the way Leia's eyebrows furrowed into a frown, she guessed she wasn't that successful. "Why are you crying?"

She put a hand to her eyes and was surprised to find a steady flow of tears dripping down her face, making her eyes smart, "Oh. I didn't realise I was. I'm…well, I'm probably just tired."

"Why aren't you in bed?"

She shifted uncomfortably, not meeting Leia's eyes as she said, quietly, "I had a nightmare about Vader and I couldn't sleep."

Leia's eyes flashed in anger. Then she took a deep breath, and nodded, "I understand. But you're not well, Alice, you need to get some sleep."

Feeling ashamed, but not able to stop herself, Alice said, "But what if…what if I dream-"

"I'll give you something so you can sleep without dreams, if you like," Leia said, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. But before she could pull her to her feet, something bleeped in the corner.

Leia looked up, open relief breaking out on her face, "We've reached the rendezvous point. Wait here, Alice, I'll get us docked, and then I'll call someone to look after you."

"Okay," she said, glumly, as her friend hurried away to the cockpit to start bringing them in. She felt a bit guilty though, as she thought about how much they placed on their princess's shoulders. With Han gone and Luke incapacitated, she was the one responsible for taking care of them; from treating a feverish Jedi to comforting a silly English girl, her hands were always full.

Trying to shake off some of drowsiness, Alice got to her feet and moved to the cockpit to watch as Leia directed them towards one of the larger starships. It took a while, but eventually, they docked, and a shudder ran through the ship as the engines finally cycled down, leaving it in silence. Moments later, a medical team rushed on board to whisk Luke away and start looking after him. Leia tapped one of the paramedics on the arm before he could run off after the Rebel Alliance's hero, and pointed him towards Alice, who was slumped against the back wall in a sort of semi-comatose state of exhaustion, "Private Miller has sustained severe trauma to the throat and is suffering from fatigue. I would appreciate it if you would see to her care."

The man looked a little bit disappointed to be looking after one of Luke's hangers-on as opposed to the man himself, but nevertheless, he took Alice gently by the arm and started leading her after his colleagues towards the ship's medical bay.

For her part, Alice was largely insensible to what was going on around her. Her dizziness had suddenly increased tenfold, and it was all she could do to walk in a straight line; it didn't even look like she was managing that, after her friendly paramedic guide had to save her from bumping into a wall more than once.

By the time they reached the ward itself, Alice was feeling well and truly sick.

"Lie down," her friendly paramedic said, "we'll get you sorted out, Private Miller." She did as she was told, and watched with vague interest as he picked up a small torch, opened her mouth and shone the light down her throat. His expression was grim, especially as he closed her mouth again, tilted back her chin and studied the bruises Vader's Force grip had left on her throat. He disappeared off to get something or other, leaving her on her own. Feeling drowsy, and with nobody there to keep her awake, Alice closed her eyes, not even caring that she might have nightmares. When the paramedic got back, she was asleep.

BREAK

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she was aware of was the fact that her head hurt. Not much, just a dull ache that promised to get worse when she sat up. _Yay, _she thought grumpily, raising a hand to block out some of the bright fluorescent light that burned behind her eyes.

"Alice?"

"Leia?" Her voice came out sounding clear, if quiet, which for some reason came as a surprise, though she couldn't remember why, "Where are we?"

"The _Redemption_," said Leia, "one of the Rebel starships."

_The _Redemption. _I'm not sure why, but for some reason I think that's probably quite ironic._

Bracing herself, Alice opened her eyes. Her friend stood over her, smartly dressed in battle-casual once again, her hair plaited and tied into a bun. She smiled to herself. Leia would never let herself look unstylish for long.

"How are you feeling?"

She took stock. Arms, legs, chest, back – all felt fine. There was a tender pain in her neck, and her head ached slightly, but other than that… "Good," she said, puzzled, "is that wrong?"

Leia laughed warmly, "No, Alice, that's just right. I'm glad you're better."

"Huh." It was an effort, but she managed to curl her mouth into a smile, "Great." She heard a quiet whine, and blinked in surprise when Chewie appeared over Leia's shoulder, "Oh, hey big guy." He purred at the sound of her voice, and looked anxiously at Leia.

"She's doing much better," said Leia, looking pleased, "it was only a small bout of hysteria…"

Alice blinked, "Wait, what? Hysteria? Why would I be-" A feeling similar to receiving an immense electric shock whipped through her, and her mouth fell open as she suddenly remembered everything that had happened, and why she was in hospital. "Where's Luke?" She grabbed at Leia's arm, "Is he okay?"

"Alice, calm down," Leia said, soothingly, though she looked a bit worried, "everything's fine. Luke's still resting but he's going to be alright."

"…Oh. Okay." She took a deep breath, and unclenched her grip from Leia's arm, "Sorry. Just…phew." Her head was pounding, as she'd known it would; sitting up that fast probably hadn't helped. "How long have we been here?" She asked.

Leia was massaging her wrist, and looked reassuringly at Chewie at his questioning growl, "Three days now."

"Three days?" Alice said, "I've been in bed for three days? No wonder I've got head rush…"

"The doctors said a long rest would do you good," said Leia, sitting down at the end of her bed, "they were impressed that you managed to keep going for as long as you did after Vader attacked you. They said you were probably running on adrenalin alone."

"Oh," she said, feeling embarrassed at that for some reason, "well. It was that or get captured by those little gnomes back at Cloud City, am I right?"

Leia gave her a small smile, amused. "Your voice sounds much better."

"Yeah," she said, tentatively putting up a hand to touch her bruised neck, "thank goodness. What would you all do if I couldn't talk?"

Leia grinned mischievously, "Thank the stars?"

Alice rolled her eyes, "Hilarious, my dear." She propped herself back against her pillows, and let out a small sigh, "How much longer do I have to be here?"

"That depends," Leia replied, "how soon do you want to leave?"

She blinked, then sat up eagerly, "As soon as possible, please. I get really bored just lying around…and I want to see Luke."

"Good," her friend said, sounding satisfied, "because Luke can't leave his room, and we all need to be together if we're going to start planning how to get Han back."

…_She really is in love with him, isn't she._

"Organised," Alice said, vaguely impressed.

"Someone has to be the organised one," Leia said, all business once again, "are you ready to get up now, or should I give you a bit longer?"

Something about the way she asked it suggested there wasn't really a choice in the matter, so Alice said, "Um…no. I can get up."

"Excellent," said Leia. She got to her feet, reached over to the empty bed next to Alice's and picked up a bundle of fabric that appeared to be a towel and some clothes. "You'll want to shower – it's just over there. Take your time."

Chewie whined, and waved; clearly he wasn't comfortable with all this talk of showering. "See you later, buddy," Alice called as loudly as she could as she got carefully to her feet and started wondering off in the direction that Leia had pointed her. Beyond the gleaming white door she found a small shower cubicle, a toilet, sink and tiny mirror. Hanging up the towel and chucking the clothes on the toilet seat, Alice stripped quickly and climbed into the shower.

Half an hour later or so, she emerged, smelling a good deal cleaner than she had for days, which went a long way to cheering her up.

"Remind me what we're doing now?" She asked, as she picked up the clothes Leia had given her. They were simple, and much the same as the ones she'd been wearing in Cloud City: trousers, a shirt, boots and a jacket. She pulled them on, feeling surprisingly comforted by the familiar outfit.

"We're going to meet the others in Luke's room," Leia called through the door.

_Oh god…Luke, _she thought, freezing as she remembered their little chat aboard the _Falcon. I still haven't told him about Vader…_

"Alice? You alright?"

She pressed a hand to her forehead, thinking fast. _I've got to tell him sooner rather than later, otherwise I'm just going to feel guilty about it for the rest of my life. Maybe he'll forgive me…maybe…_

"M'fine." She ran her fingers quickly through her damp hair, then stepped out.

Leia smiled at her, "Now you look like you again. Come on, let's go."

"Okay," Alice said, amused, as her friend took her by the wrist and started pulling her along. Her smile faded quite speedily though, as she started desperately planning just how she was going to break the news to Luke that she'd known about his unfortunate parentage for quite a while now, and yet had not seen fit to tell him. _It's just a tiny, little baby betrayal. And I promised Ben that I wouldn't tell, after all…oh, that's no excuse. I just have to act natural…_

"Um…Alice?" With a jolt, she realised that Leia had stopped already, and she'd carried on down the corridor. Blushing, she returned to the princess's side, ignoring the odd looks she was getting from passing medical staff.

Leia raised her eyebrows at her, and she shook her head in reply, "Don't ask." With a shrug, Leia opened the chrome door in front of them, which slid open to reveal Chewie, Lando, Threepio and Artoo scattered in various poses all around the room, with Luke propped up in a bed in the middle. Their male companions all looked up as they entered, and met them with warm smiles of welcome. Alice almost couldn't bear to meet Luke's eyes as he smiled at her. He was so…trusting, and she simply didn't deserve it.

Something beeped near her feet, and she looked down to see Artoo sitting there; he stomped cheerfully, clearly glad to have her attention. "Hi, buddy."

"Alice." Leia was looking at her, eyebrows raised and waiting. "Sorry," she muttered, leaning against a table behind her, and gesturing to Leia to go ahead. The princess huffed slightly, then said, in a business-like tone, "Right. You all know why we're here. First thing's first. Where did Boba Fett take Han?"

"That's easy," Lando said confidently, "everyone knows Boba Fett's Jabba the Hutt's favourite bounty hunter. He'll have taken Han to Tatooine, Jabba's base of operations."

"Tatooine?" Alice blurted out, before she could stop herself. Then she paused and cocked her head on one side, "Hang on, who's Boba Fett?"

"The bounty hunter from Cloud City."

Alice frowned, "You mean the one in the multi-coloured suit that looked as if it was painted by his three year old daughter?"

"That's right," Lando said, raising an eyebrow at her, "my guess is that Han owed Jabba a little something – and the Hutt sent his bounty hunters out to get recompense."

Leia started to pace, her teeth gritted, "Damn it. Han said he had to pay Jabba back, but I didn't realise he was in this deep."

"But what is Jabba going to do with Han once he has him?" Alice asked, anxiously, "I mean, he's frozen, for goodness' sake!"

"Who knows?" Lando said grimly, "But Jabba the Hutt is known all across the Outer Rim for not treating his debtors kindly."

"Then I assume Jabba's not going to just give him back to us, even in exchange for money," Luke said from his bed. Alice glanced twitchily over at him, then quickly away as he turned his head to look at her. _I can't look at him…_

"I doubt it," Lando said, glancing at Chewie, "From what Chewbacca's told me, Jabba has a bit of a grudge against ole' Han. He'd probably prefer having him at his mercy to having his debt paid ten times over." The wookiee wailed loudly in apparent confirmation of this statement.

"Well, in a way that's good news, because the Alliance doesn't have nearly that much money," Leia commented drily, "it looks like our only option is to try and break him out ourselves."

"Uh…" Alice said, raising her eyebrows, "If we're going down that road, can I just come straight out and suggest stealth?"

"Alice is right," Leia said, "A direct assault on Jabba would be foolish. So our first task is figuring out how we're going to get inside Jabba's palace."

"Well, what pretext have we got for going in?" Alice said slowly, folding her arms, "What could we do that would mean they would just let us inside?"

There was a long, thoughtful silence. Alice looked up, "Any ideas?"

Lando clicked his fingers. Alice pointed at him, "Bing! We have an idea."

"Bounty hunters. Jabba's always on the lookout for new ones, and new prizes…one of us could dress as a bounty hunter, bringing in a prisoner…that'd get at least two of us inside."

"That's a good start," Alice said encouragingly.

"But that would still leave five of us," Luke said, glancing around at them all, "what do we do then?"

"Well, then…" Leia gritted her teeth and knuckled her forehead, "There are too many variables. How can we possibly predict how this'll turn out?"

"Take it easy, honey," Alice said, laying a hand gently on her friend's shoulder, "we don't have to figure everything out at once. Let's not try and sort any details out now – if we rush into anything, it just won't work. I think our priority is figuring out what's happening on Tatooine; one of us needs to get inside and look around. Then they can tell us what they find out and what they think might work."

"I can do that," Lando said raising a hand, "I know…well, let's say I once…_encountered_ one of Jabba's serving girls."

Alice and Leia raised their eyebrows at each other. "Naughty Calrissian," Alice remarked with a small smirk.

He rolled his eyes at her, "She'll talk to me, assuming she's still alive, that is…"

"Ah," Alice said, slightly concerned by this, "serving girl of Jabba the Hutt, not exactly a safe line of work then?"

"Not exactly, no."

"Huh."

Chewie growled loudly from the corner of the room, and Threepio stepped forward, "Chewbacca says that he will accompany Lando on his reconnaissance mission."

"There we are then," Alice said chirpily, "let's start with something simple. I mean, going from what you said, Lando, Jabba isn't going to actually _do _anything to Han, in which case…well, we can afford to take our time."

"Alright," Leia said, looking unhappy, but acquiescing never the less, "Chewie, Lando, when would you be happy to leave?"

Chewie whined, and Threepio translated, "He wishes to leave as soon as possible."

"And I'm with him," Lando said, clapping the wookiee on the upper arm, probably because he couldn't reach his shoulder.

"Well, don't go now," interjected Alice, quickly, "wait until tomorrow at least. It's…well, I'm assuming it's late now…" she glanced out at the darkness of space, frustrated, "Annoying lack of natural light making it difficult to tell the time…"

"It is late," Lando said, amused, "and it's probably time you got some rest, Luke." He gave him a salute, "take it easy, buddy."

_Hold up…when did Luke and Lando become 'buddies'?_

"Alice, we should go too," Leia said, beckoning her.

"Yeah," she said, glancing over at shoulder at Luke, who gave her a brief, bright smile, "okay."

With Artoo rolling along at their heels, they left. As soon as the door had shut behind them, Leia turned to Alice with a shrewd look, "Go on then. Tell me why it is that you won't even look at Luke?"

Alice shrugged uncomfortably, "It's…complicated. I can't really explain it…it's up to Luke if he tells you or not."

"Why?" Leia asked, frowning.

"Come on, Leia," Alice said, shaking her head, "I just said it was complicated…"

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**Thanks so much for reading, and please review! :)**


	23. Confessions

Hello! Three exams down, five to go. :P

This week's **shout-outs** go to: **Nyce**, **Taboo22**, **Art****istsChild93**, **sarahmichellegellarfan1** and **Katyperry22**. Thanks for reviewing all. :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

* * *

The next morning (rough approximation of morning – it really was hard to tell with no sun or moon), Alice, Leia and Luke said their goodbyes to Lando and Chewie, who were taking the _Falcon _to Tatooine.

"_Luke?" _Lando's voice came over the comlink that Luke currently held, _"We're ready for take-off."_

"Good luck, Lando," Luke said, from where he lay on his bed. Leia was at his side, and Alice was loitering by the window, staring broodingly out into the darkness of space.

"_We'll contact you as soon as there's news." _

"And we'll meet you on Tatooine."

"_Princess?" _Alice glanced over her shoulder to see Leia look up and half-smile at the sound of her title, even though Lando couldn't see her, _"We'll find Han. And Alice?"_

She could feel their eyes on her, and so reluctantly she turned and raised her voice, "Yes, my moustachioed friend?"

Lando chuckled, and he said, _"Take care of yourself, my dear."_

"Obviously."

Leia met Alice's gaze as Luke bid a final farewell to their two friends, "I'll be waiting for your signal, Chewie. Take care, you two."

"No fighting," Alice called, reflexively. There was a crackle of laughter and a roar from Chewie over the speaker.

"And may the Force be with you," Luke said, smiling to himself. Alice bit her lip, and turned to face the window again, disheartened as they all split up once again. Not that she didn't love Leia and Luke just as much as Lando and Chewie, but…well, the latter two were generally a lot easier to be around, even if one of them had a penchant for capes and the other was unintelligible.

Leia came over to join her, and murmured quietly, "We'll hear from them soon."

"Yeah," Alice replied, "I know." Behind them, Luke let out a hiss as his new cybernetic hand was locked into place on his wrist. The new limb was astonishingly life-like – if Alice hadn't seen the stump of where Luke's original hand had been, she almost couldn't have believed that this was a replacement. A moment later, he got up and moved towards them. Alice glanced at Leia, who got the message. "I've got to speak with the Admiral," she said quietly, "I'll see you two later."

Luke nodded at her, and Alice shot her a grateful look. Leia raised her eyebrows, and left.

_Right. It's just you and me. _Luke came to a halt by her side, his expression surprisingly peaceful. She cringed at the thought of having to destroy that serenity…but she simply couldn't go on lying to him, unless she planned on driving herself mad.

"Luke," she said, the word coming out faintly from her still-healing throat.

He looked at her, the corner of his mouth curled up in a faint smile, "Yes?"

Alice opened her mouth, hesitated, then said, weakly, "How's the hand?"

"…Strange," he said, curling and uncurling his fist and studying the movement carefully, "but I think I'll get used to it. Alice…I was thinking…well, I wanted to say-"

He sounded soft, and shy, and the affection in his face was completely unbearable. She turned away from him sharply, staring out into space.

"Alice? Are you alright?" He was frowning now, clearly worried about her, or embarrassed, or both. "I need to tell you something," she said, still refusing to look at him. He waited, eyes darting anxiously over her face.

She swallowed, and said, slowly, "What you told me…on the _Falcon _the other night…" She noticed his expression beginning to change to one of puzzlement, but she simply ploughed on, too frightened to stop and look at him, "I…knew. About…Vader, and your…family connection. Before you told me."

Silence. _Oh god, oh god, oh god… _"I'm really, really sorry," she said, humbly, still not daring to meet his eye, "I wanted to tell you, but Ben…" she winced, hating herself a little for making the excuse, but saying it anyway, "Ben made me promise not to."

There was a long pause. Then Luke said, in a tone that was painfully flat, "You knew? How?"

She fidgeted, feeling his gaze boring into the top of her head, "Ben…told me."

"You didn't say anything."

"It wasn't my place to tell you-"

"I would have rather found out from you than Vader," he said, evenly.

Alice shuffled, wishing she could disappear into the floor, "I'm sorry, Luke, I just thought-"

"I thought I could trust you."

She jerked her head up to look at him, disbelieving. His expression was dull, his face pale, but he looked at her unflinchingly. _Stop looking at me like that. _"Of course you can trust me. I just…I promised Ben I wouldn't tell you."

"He made you promise," he repeated, eyebrows raised, "he wanted to keep it from me that badly?"

Alice tried one last time to reason with him, "Come on, he must have had a reason. You know he wouldn't hide it from you for nothing." He turned away, his eyes searching the stars beyond the glass as if the answers might be written there. "Perhaps he was going to tell you, but he never managed it before he…before-"

"Thank you, Alice," Luke said, quietly but effectively cutting her off as she scrambled to explain herself, "for telling me."

_So…that's it._ "Fine," she said vaguely, getting to her feet, "no problem. I'll…go, shall I?"

He didn't answer, merely gazed silently into space, his expression distant.

Slowly, she backed up, and left the room in a daze, her vision slightly blurred. As the door slid shut behind her, she pressed a hand to her forehead. _Well, that went well._

BREAK

Time, Alice observed, flew quickly in space. She attributed this mainly to it being almost impossible to keep track of it when there was no natural change in light to indicate night or day; and to the fact that on a Rebel Alliance Starship, the work never seemed to stop. There was no slowing down that suggested it might be time to head to bed; as soon as one shift of workers left to sleep, another one took over. In this way, a month flew by since Lando and Chewie had left for Tatooine.

She spent most of her time with Leia, who gave her little jobs to do when she could and patiently bore Alice's chatter when she couldn't. Luke came and went – he'd been promoted again, this time to _General _Skywalker, and that apparently kept him fairly busy. Alice wasn't quite sure where the two of them stood, in terms of their formerly close, now tenuous relationship. More than once she'd seen him walking past, and had opened her mouth to call a greeting, only for her courage to fail her at the last minute. _Story of my life._

The last time she'd seen him was about two weeks ago, just before he left to run missions with a small detachment of star fighters at Leia's command. She'd just been skipping innocently off, presumably to bother Leia (she couldn't really remember), when she'd spotted him talking with a few male pilots, all of them dressed in their orange flight suits.

Alice had learned since she'd come into this galaxy that when men wore flight suits it meant that…well. They were going flying. _Luke's leaving again, and I still haven't spoken to him. _The thought was just desperate enough for her to call, "Luke?"

He and the three pilots he was chatting with turned to face her; Luke's expression was grim, but the others gave each other meaningful grins. One of them even went so far as to elbow another in the side. "We'll see you on board, General Skywalker," the elbower said, nodding at his companions.

"Alright," Luke said, distractedly, his eyes fixed searchingly on Alice's face, as if trying to decide how he should behave towards her.

Feeling self-conscious, she took a small step forward, and said, "You're going away again?"

"Yes," he said, glancing down at his flight suit as if surprised to find himself wearing it, "Leia's sending me and some other pilots on a couple of reconnaissance missions in this galactic sector."

…_What does one say to that? _"Cool," said Alice, weakly. She fidgeted, then said, "Listen…"

"I should really get going," he interrupted, refusing to meet her gaze, "I'm leading the mission after all. Goodbye, Alice." And with that abrupt farewell, he'd simply departed, leaving her on her own in an empty corridor. Suffice to say she'd gone away from that particular encounter feeling more than a little disheartened.

The only other occasion of interest in her month-long stint on a starship was, as it happened, Alice's twentieth birthday. This took place, she guessed, about a week after Luke had left - it was very difficult to ascertain this, since if she asked what day or month it was, she just got odd looks. But, by assuming that she had woken up in the desert on 19th July, two weeks after the start of the summer holidays, and by counting through the number of days she'd been here (with some help from Artoo and Threepio), at some point in the last few days, she'd turned twenty.

There hadn't been anyone really around to celebrate with her; Luke was gone, of course. Leia was particularly busy, managing some incoming information from spies in the Inner Core, and it seemed that none of Alice's friends from Hoth had made it onto this particular starship. The 'party' therefore went something like this: "Hey, Threepio, Artoo, it's my birthday!"

"Oh, Mistress Alice, congratulations!"

"Beeeep-de-beep beep."

Which was cool.

Leia had been very nice when Alice told her that evening though; as a hastily improvised present and with the blessing of General Rieekan, she'd _promoted _her to the rank of Lieutenant Miller. Which frankly was just a little bit weeeeeird. Then again, being a lieutenant by the age of twenty wasn't bad…and on the upside, she was suddenly given a number of new duties, which gave her something to do to pass the time at least.

One of these jobs, and Alice's favourite, was updating all the new information in the ship's computer on the whereabouts of all Rebel ships. A reader unfamiliar with Alice's backstory might find this a bit strange, but the ones who can remember all the way back to chapter one will recall that she had a penchant for facts, figures and other similar types of hard, easily sortable data.

_If this war ever ends and we don't die, I'll probably just become an archivist, because this is surprisingly fun,_ she thought as she sat in a swivel chair in a quiet corner of the bridge, typing away at her own little computer. Every now and then, a message would pop up in the corner of her screen with new information for her to input. She'd been working solidly for about an hour or so when she suddenly felt her comlink vibrate in her pocket. Surprised, but pleased, she withdrew the object in question and pressing the communicator button, said in a self-important tone, "Lieutenant Miller, archivist and historian speaking, how may I help you?"

"_Alice?"_

She jolted upright, her eyes darting around frantically. It was Luke. _Why is he calling me? Is he coming back? Why isn't he talking to Leia?_

"…Um…Luke?"

"_Yes." _He sounded brisk, and far less awkward than she did. Alice swivelled uncomfortably in her chair, confused and embarrassed. _"Listen, I can't get through to Leia. I assume she's busy. Tell her I'm on my way back to rejoin the fleet – Lando contacted me a few hours ago. They've found Han." _

Alice perked up at once, "Really? Awesome! I'll tell her now." She paused, "Hey, Luke-"

"_I'm sorry, I can't talk now. Goodbye Alice."_

And with that, he disconnected the call. Alice stared at the lump of plastic in her hand in disbelief, "Did he just hang up on me? That, that…scoundrel! I don't think I want to tell Leia he's coming back." Shoving the comlink back into her pocket, she sulked for a moment, then got to her feet and went to find Leia.

"Princess Leia, my darling bestest friend!"

Leia looked up wearily from the undoubtedly very important piece of work she was doing, "Yes, Alice, what is it?"

"Luke's coming back. Lando talked to him earlier. Operation rescue Han is…well, presumably it's on, but I'm not really sure…"

Leia's expression brightened instantly, "Excellent. Did Luke say when he'd be getting here?"

"Nope," Alice said, drily, "General Skywalker was not in a hurry to prolong the conversation, suffice to say."

Leia shook her head and turned back to her work, "You two have got to settle this fight, whatever it is. It's childish, and beneath you both. Not to mention you obviously have feelings for each other."

"Ha ha. Hilarious. Not."

"She's right, you know," said General Rieekan from beside Leia. Alice stared at him, utterly perplexed as to he, of all people, would be commenting on the state of her relationship with Luke. "Leia…did he just- why?"

"Honestly, Alice," Leia said, taking a file from an orderly, skimming it and setting it aside, "you can't be under the impression that no one else had noticed the way you two are together?"

Alice blinked, "Um, yes, yes I can. …Sorry, what do you mean 'the way we are together'?"

Leia glanced up at her and shook her head, "Obviously, you haven't been talking to the right people."

Alice threw her hands out in a gesture of perplexed surrender. "…I am trying to speak, but there are no words. I wash my hands of this weirdness!" She turned to sweep out dramatically (and then creep back to her filing), but Leia, without looking up, said, "Ah-ah-ah. You are not sneaking off and avoiding Luke. We're all going to talk to Lando and Chewie together."

Alice groaned and threw herself dramatically into a chair, "You're the worst friend ever, Leia!"

"Alice, shush."

"Un-bloody-believable…"

Luckily, Alice wasn't kept waiting long. Luke arrived surprisingly promptly, striding into the room whilst Alice swung backwards and forwards on her chair, her legs hooked over the arm and making an odd sustained croaking noise.

She spotted him from upside down and very promptly flipped upright, a hot blush flaming instantly across her cheeks. She also coughed loudly and said, "Leia. Luke's here."

Leia looked up, smiling, "Luke."

"Leia." They hugged, and Alice stayed awkwardly where she was.

"How are you two?" Luke said, to Alice's shock, including her in the question.

"We're fine," Leia said, glancing at Alice and lifting one eyebrow slightly, "right, Alice?"

_I hate you._ Very, very tentatively, Alice met Luke's eyes. _Oh my god…he's had a haircut. It's…dear lord, it's a bowl cut. Must…resist…urge…to ruffle!_

"Er…Alice?"

"What? Yeah," she said, her voice coming out oddly strangled, "fine. Great. We've been having a bowl- I mean, ball. We've been having a ball. Ha ha ha…" _Stop staring at his head!_

"Good?" Luke said, sounding only slightly puzzled – like everyone else, he was used to ignoring Alice by this stage. "Leia, Alice told you why I've returned?"

"Yes," Leia said, her smile dropping away slightly, "What did Lando say?"

Luke reached out and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "He thinks it's doable."

"Really?" Leia snatched his hand and held tight, her eyes sparkling, "That's wonderful!"

Alice sat up, clutching the arms of the chair, "We're going to rescue Han?"

"Yes," Luke said, not looking at her, "but first Lando wants to discuss what's been going on. I said I'd contact him when we got here."

Leia turned to the holographic table she'd been working at and started tapping away at once, "I'll see if I can get a hold on him…"

The light above the table shimmered, then slowly solidified into an image of Lando, sitting in the main cabin of the _Falcon_ with Chewie at his side.

"Lando!"

"_Alice, Leia," _he said, smiling at them, _"it's good to see you."_

"And you," Alice said cheerfully, leaping to her feet and leaning over the table, "I can't tell you how boring it's been without you, dear."

"_What did you expect?" _He said, with a wink and an accompanying roar from Chewie.

Leia, impatient, interrupted them before Alice could reply, saying, "Lando, are you on Tatooine?"

"_Yeah,"_ he said, his smile fading, _"I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I've found Han. The bad news is that he's being held in Jabba's palace – the Hutt's using him as a decoration."_

Leia clenched her fists, "We've got to get him out of there."

"Hey," said Alice, slightly alarmed, "it's okay, we're going to."

"_I've got myself a job as one of Jabba's guards,"_ Lando went on, _"we're going to have to be careful about how we all come in here – security's pretty tight; tighter than Cloud City, if you can imagine it."_

Alice bit her lip, thinking of the two jets that had nearly shot them out of the sky when they first arrived on Bespin, "Uh oh…"

"_Yeah," _Lando said grimly, _"If we're going to smuggle you two in," _he gestured to Alice and Leia, "_the only way I can think of doing it is if you're disguised as a bounty hunter or a slave girl." _Alice and Leia glanced at each other. Alice gulped. "Slave girl? But you said that slave girls-"

"You don't have to go, Alice," Leia said hurriedly, looking concerned, "we'd all understand if-"

"No," said Alice, feeling defiant all of a sudden, "I want to go. I can be a slave girl, no problem."

Oddly enough, it was Luke who had the most powerful reaction to this. He straightened up from where he was leaning against the wall, his eyes fixed on Alice, "You'll what?"

"I said, I can be a slave girl," she said, surprised by the strength of his reaction, "I want to help. And let's face it, I'd never be able to pull off being a bounty hunter."

"But it's dangerous," he said, looking at Lando and Leia for confirmation.

"No," she said a touch sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "I had no idea. I don't care if it's dangerous, I want to rescue Han. I'm not letting you leave me behind _again_."

"Alice," he said, his expression intense, "it's not just about you. None of us want to see you get hurt."

Alice flared up at this, "I can take care of myself, Luke. Stop assuming I can't." Luke's mouth twisted down at the corners, and he stared at her, as if he was trying to say something, but without actually saying it, which was stupid and annoying. _What?! What is it?_

"Alice," Leia said, warningly, into the tense silence that had fallen, "I'm sure Luke didn't mean it in that way. We just want to make sure that you're absolutely certain that this is what you want to do, given that it will be dangerous."

"I know that," Alice said, earnestly, appealing to the whole room, "but I still want to come. Han's my friend too, and I want to help."

The princess nodded, "Very well."

"_Alright then," _Lando said, sounding as though he would rather talk about anything than what just happened, _"Luke, since you're our Jedi, I don't think we need to sneak you inside – you can be our spokesperson."_

"Fine," Luke said. Alice was incredibly tempted to look at him. She didn't.

"_It'd probably be a good idea to get Artoo and Threepio inside as well, though – even if Alice, Leia or I get caught, no one would suspect a droid."_

"Alright," Leia said, frowning, "but that means we've got to get a bounty hunter, two droids, a wookiee, a Jedi and a slave girl past Jabba's guards. How are we going to make that work?"

There was a slightly awkward pause. Then Alice looked up, her eyes wide, and said slowly, "Um…I think…I think I have an idea. Good lord…yes, I really do have an idea."

"Let's hear it, then," Leia said at once, shooting a glance out of the corner of her eye in Luke's general direction.

"Okay," Alice said nervously, "um…so, what if Lando brings me to Jabba as a slave girl? That's two of us inside already. Then we send a message or something with Artoo and Threepio asking for Han back. Probably won't work, but diplomacy is always worth a try, I find."

She glanced up and caught Luke giving her a slightly sardonic look from across the room, and hurried on, "Yes. Er…and if that fails, which it most likely will, then we smuggle in Leia, dressed as a bounty hunter, and…she breaks Han out at a time that seems appropriate. And then, if _that _fails we have Luke in reserve to help us out with a little lightsaber razzle-dazzle. More or less. How was that?

Another pause.

"_Wow,"_ Lando said.

"Wow, indeed," Leia said, sounding vastly impressed and simultaneously surprised, "Alice…that actually made sense."

"Really?" She beamed, "Yes, I suppose it did. Wow!"

"That is…logical," said Luke reluctantly.

Alice met his gaze, and said, in a dignified tone, "Thank you, Luke." To her immense satisfaction, he blushed a little at this, and looked away, folding his arms firmly across his chest.

"_Great," _Lando said, sounding relieved, _"well, the sooner we get started the better. How about you all come out here to Tatooine and we'll take discussions further from there?" _

"Sounds marvellous," Alice said, smiling brightly.

"We'll leave first thing in the morning," Leia clarified, rolling her eyes at Alice. Lando nodded, Chewie moaned, and they flickered out of sight.

Leia turned to Luke and Alice, and gave them a stern, motherly look, "You two had better pack – oh, and Luke, tell Artoo and Threepio, would you?"

Alice raised an eyebrow, "Oh, he'll love that." Luke didn't look amused, and opened his mouth to speak, but Leia cut him off, saying briskly, "Don't worry, Luke. He can complain all he likes; he's coming anyway."

_Leia, I like your style._

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	24. Ghosts

Hey guys - sorry about the delay on this chapter. I've been so busy these last couple of weeks, I am absolutely exhausted. :P Also, I feel I should warn you that after this I probably won't be able update again until September, due to my extremely hectic travel schedule this holiday. Please don't hate me...

This week's **shout-outs **go to:** sarahmichellegellarfan1**, **ArtistsChild93**, **Katyperry22** and **Meg**. Thanks for your reviews, guys! :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.**

* * *

The next day was action day. Alice, Leia and Luke, along with Artoo and Threepio gathered in the shuttle bay of the starship, preparing to board the small cruiser that would carry them to Tatooine.

There was no one to say goodbye to, apart from General Rieekan, so when the three of them had given him a salute each, they simply piled on board, and settled themselves throughout the ship; Alice sat with Leia in the cockpit, and Luke disappeared into the cabin with Artoo and Threepio.

"What do you reckon?" Alice asked as she settled herself into the co-pilot seat with Leia beside her.

"We'll be fine," her friend reassured her, starting up the engines, "absolutely fine." There was a clunk and a hiss as they detached from the side of the starship and drifted away into clear space.

"If you say so," she said, settling back in her seat and breathing deeply to try and calm her twisting nerves, "how far are we from Tatooine anyway?"

"About twenty parsecs. Now that the hyperdrive is finally fixed, we should make good time." Leia leaned forward, and shoved a large lever forward – instantly they rocketed into light speed, the stars beyond the window blurring into burning streaks of silver.

Alice tapped her fingers idly against the arm of the chair, "So…any ideas for something that would pass the time?"

Leia raised an eyebrow, "Not a clue. You?"

"Umm…how about 'My Grandmother's Cat'?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"It was a game we used to play on long journeys," Alice said thoughtfully, "basically you go through the alphabet and you have to give the cat a name and a characteristic that starts with that letter. Like…oh, um, my grandmother's cat is an altruistic cat called Alfie."

"Really?" Leia said doubtfully, lounging back in her chair, "An altruistic cat. How unusual."

"Hey, don't question Alfie. Now, go on," she chided, "it's your turn."

"Fine, fine. My grandmother's cat is a…big cat called Bossark."

She tilted her head on one side, "Points gained for Bossark. Points quite distinctly lost for 'big'. How unimaginative can you get? Alright, my turn. My grandmother's cat is a charming cat called Clarice."

"My grandmother's cat…"

After approximately another hour of flying through space, Alice sat back in her chair, frowning. "Right, so we've done the cat game, the 'I went shopping and I bought' game, _and _numerous rounds of 'I Spy'. I honestly don't think I can think of anymore journey games. Oh! Hang on, what about-"

"Please," begged Leia, "no more. I don't think I can think of any more things to put into your extensive shopping bag."

Alice stared at her, mouth half-open. "Ooh. Saucy."

There was a moment of silence, then they both burst out laughing. Wiping away a tiny baby tear, Alice gave a melodramatic moan, "Argh, how much longer?"

Leia leaned forward and checked some incomprehensible screen on the dashboard with a groan, "We've got about an hour still to go."

"An hour? Lord…I might die of boredom. We don't even have a sat-nav. You know, this would be so much more fun if we had a talking computer. One that sang random songs to entertain us." She swivelled some more, then started to sing, "_When you walk through the storm, hold your head up high, and don't be afraid of the daaaaark…at the end of the storm, there's a golden sky, and the sweet silver song of a laaaark!_"

Leia stared at her as she fumbled her way through the rest of the song, doing a little dance as she went. Eventually she trailed to a halt, and let out a frustrated groan, "I'm boooored."

"No," Leia said, in a tone of mock wonder, "I hadn't guessed."

"Fine, be that way," Alice said, with a sniff, "absolutely no sympathy." She swivelled back and forth for a little longer, then said, "Leia…"

"Yes?"

"What exactly do I have to do as Jabba's…slave girl?"

Leia immediately looked uncomfortable, "I really don't-"

"I mean," Alice said jokily, trying to calm herself and only succeeding in agitating herself more, "I don't have to…it'll just be like dancing, or feeding him stuff, or fanning him."

"Dancing almost certainly," Leia said, latching on to that most innocent sounding verb at once.

Alice gulped, "Do you think so? Because…I'm not sure if I can…if I can just make up a dance."

Leia looked anxious, "Well…you could use one of your gymnastic routines? You said they were movements set to music."

Alice stared at her friend in wonder, "That…is not a bad idea. At all. Excellent in fact. Now. Can I actually remember any of my old gymnastic routines…?" She drifted off into thoughtful silence, which eventually must have become an actual nap, because the next thing she knew, Leia was shouting in her ear. "Alice. Alice. Alice!" She opened her eyes to find her friend's index finger halfway towards poking her in the cheek. She scrambled back and managed to deflect said finger with a backhanded slap.

"Ouch!"

"Leia," she said, in mock horror, "it is not cool to poke sleeping people in the face. That's just twisted."

"You need to wake up. I tried shouting, but it didn't work," she said defensively, "I thought it was time for drastic measures."

She shook her head, "You crossed a line, princess. You crossed a line."

She stared at her for a moment, then shook off her weirdness, "Right, well…whatever. We're here. Mos Eisley."

"Weird…" Alice peered out of the window, "The last time I was here, Ben was…well."

There was a slight pause in the cockpit. Alice was aware that Leia was staring at her in a sympathetic way. It made her uncomfortable. She coughed loudly, "So. Where are we meeting Lando?"

"Some tavern or other. Luke and I talked to him earlier – we didn't want to wake you. He said Luke will know where we're going."

"Oh," Alice said, "alright then. Shall we?"

Together, they made their way through the ship and found Luke and Artoo waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp. Threepio had elected to stay on board, to 'keep an eye on things'. With a synchronised eye-roll that would have won prizes, Alice and Leia disembarked and the five of them set off into the sand.

Alice deliberately kept Leia in between Luke and herself as they pushed their way through throngs of aliens in awkward silence. It was odd to consider that what had been so weird the first time she was here was now so commonplace – she strode past a group of fish-like beings, holding parasols over their heads to shield themselves from the bright sunshine without blinking an eye. _Weird…I've acclimatised._

"We're here," Luke said, glancing over at them. Alice looked up as he spoke and for a moment their eyes met…then she turned her face away, blushing. _Just act natural, Alice._ Trying not to notice that she could still feel Luke looking at her, she studied their destination, and blinked in surprise. "Hey! But, this is…" It was the same tavern where they'd first met Han and Chewie, after Luke's aunt and uncle had been killed. _Wow…flashbacks._ Alice thought wistfully of Han, then shook herself. _He's here, and we're going to get him back._

"I know," said Luke, his voice deep and dark. Leia looked curiously between the two of them, but Alice for once, didn't feel up to explaining the situation to her. Luke didn't say anything either, apart from, "Come on."

He strode off, Alice and Leia following more slowly behind. Inside, it was just as smoky, dirty and generally unpleasant as Alice remembered. They picked their way between grotesque-looking aliens to the very back of the bar; and there they found some old friends.

"Well, well," Lando said, getting up from his seat, "fancy seeing you here." Chewie purred loudly, and Alice grinned. "What are the odds, right?" Lando winked at her and beckoned her over, "Sit down, my dear."

"Thank you," she said, wriggling into the booth and planting a light kiss on his cheek as he sat down, "good to see you again."

"And you, kid," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and giving her a brief squeeze. Chewie whined, and Alice laughed, "Don't worry, I was getting to you."

While Lando kissed Leia's knuckles and Luke clapped him on the shoulder, Alice hugged Chewie, "Hello, darling."

Their greetings exchanged, they all turned in to face each other, while around them the other patrons of the bar squawked and drank and growled. "You could have picked a better spot, Calrissian," Alice said, wrinkling her nose a little at the smell of the place.

He snorted, and leant down to murmur, "I've bribed the barkeeper so that if any of Jabba's spies come calling, he'll say he hasn't seen us."

"Mmm," Alice said, raising her eyebrows, "Impressive thinking."

He gave a modest shrug, then suddenly turned business-like, "Right. I've been giving some thought to Alice's plan, and I'm pretty sure it'll work. It'll be easy enough for me to bring in Alice as a slave girl – I'm on a mission for Jabba at the moment, and I can just say I bought you as a gift for him; that'll give us two people working within Jabba's system as a backup in case anything goes wrong. Leia, I think the best way to set up your role as a bounty hunter is to have you come in with Chewie to claim the reward of twenty-five thousand credits that currently sits on our furry friend's head."

"Twenty-five thousand," Alice said, eyeing Chewie with respect, "nice one, Chewie." He growled in acknowledgement of this compliment.

"It won't be a problem getting Artoo and Threepio in either; if we send them in carrying a message from Luke to Jabba, we could easily offer them as a gift – Jabba needs a new translator, and astro droids are always useful."

"I thought we said we would send the droids in first," Luke interjected, "diplomacy's always worth a try." Alice glanced at him. He avoided her gaze, but after she looked away, she felt his eyes flicker briefly on to her face.

"Of course," Lando agreed, "once Leia and Chewie are in, we're going to try to break everyone out that night, Han, Chewie, Alice, the lot of us. That's going to be tough and probably won't work, so we'll have to have a backup plan in place – Luke that's where you come in."

"Not a problem," Luke said, his hand dropping to his belt where his lightsaber was clipped.

"I've asked around," said Lando, "and it turns out that Jabba's favourite place for mass executions is the Pit of Carkoon, in the middle of the Dune Sea. He likes to take his prisoners out there and watch from his sail barge while whichever unlucky bastard it is who's upset him is fed to the Saarlac. Assuming Han and Leia are caught, that's probably where he'll take them."

"Well," Alice said, swallowing thickly, "that sounds…pleasant."

"Right…" Luke furrowed his brow, "What do we do if I'm captured as well, then? The first thing Jabba will do is take my lightsaber from me."

"Give it to Artoo – Lando, you can make sure that Artoo ends up on this sail-barge, right? Then if you're captured, he can just give it to you," Leia suggested. Artoo whistled eagerly, as if to show his enthusiasm for this idea.

"I can do that," Lando said with a nod.

"Alright," Luke said, though he sounded slightly reluctant at the idea of giving up his weapon.

"What about Han?" Leia asked, sounding concerned, "Waking up after two months of hibernation is going to be rough. He's going to need time to recover."

Lando shrugged, "I'm sorry, but you won't have time. As soon as he's unfrozen, you're going to have to try and get him out of there."

"Alright," said Leia, somewhat grimly.

"Right," Alice said, glancing around, "so…that's the plan. Is there anything that we haven't thought of…?"

"Well, Leia will need clothes to pretend she's a bounty hunter and preferably a voice manipulator, Luke will need to record his message to Jabba, but other than that…"

"We're seriously not going to plan it in any more detail?" Alice said, slightly queasily.

"If we're honest, Alice," Lando said, with a grin, "our plans never go exactly the way we want them to. We're probably better off just making it up."

Alice stared at him, then said, "That is exactly the way I felt prior to my GCSE exams. Good one, Lando."

"Leia," Lando said, turning to her, "anything to add?"

"No," Leia said, with a look of steely determination, "the sooner we get Han out the better."

"Hang on," Luke interrupted, holding up a hand, "before we do anything, I have a…personal errand to run."

"You do?" Leia, Lando and Alice chorused, with a curious growl from Chewbacca.

"Yes," he said, glancing briefly at Alice, his expression unreadable, "It shouldn't take long. I'll be back by the evening."

"Where are you going?" Alice asked, concerned by the distinct and obvious blankness on his face.

Luke looked down, his whole posture stiff and uncomfortable, "Anchorhead."

_That's…wait, but that's..._

"Very well," Lando said, exchanging a shrug with Leia, "Leia and I will start on finding a disguise, and some clothes for you, Alice."

"Alright," Luke said, getting to his feet, "where should I meet you?"

"Where did we leave the _Falcon_, Chewie?"

Chewie growled, and Alice translated, for probably the only time in her life able to say with certainty what it was the wookiee meant, "Docking Bay Ninety-Four."

Chewie trumpeted eagerly, and Lando grinned, impressed, "Bay Ninety-Four it is. We'll see you later, Luke, old buddy."

Luke got to his feet, and started to leave, but Alice, silently battling concern and pride, called him back. _Come on, Alice. Be the bigger man here. Despite the fact that you are the girl in this little duo. Never mind. Stop twittering to yourself and deal with it!_ "Wait."

Luke paused, and hushed silence fell around the table, and everyone gave her a look that seemed to say, '_Oh no, she didn't!_'

"I'll come with you."

The tension doubled as instantaneously as if someone had thrown a switch. Alice stared breathlessly at Luke, half expecting him to reject her completely, the other half asking herself what the hell she thought she was doing.

Then Luke said, "Fine."

"Really?" Alice said, so shocked that her voice squeaked embarrassingly on the second syllable.

"Really," said Luke, though his expression was a little bit doubtful, as if he wasn't quite sure of his own decision.

"Cool," she said, trying not to look too keen.

"We'll see you later then," Leia said, looking frankly a little bit puzzled as to what just happened, "be careful. Don't do anything reckless, or anything that'll draw attention to yourself."

"Okay," said Alice, jumping to her feet, "ciao, chums."

Lando raised his hand in a wave, Chewie growled, and Leia rolled her eyes as she trotted off after Luke.

She trailed behind him most of the way through the bar, but once they'd reached the door they sort of had to walk side by side. Alice cleared her throat awkwardly as they stepped out into the bright Tatooine sunshine, "So, how are we going to get there? To Anchorhead, I mean."

He lifted his arm and pointed to one of the sandstone buildings, which had a large number of rusty looking speeders sitting outside, "We'll rent a speeder or a sand bike."

"You have money?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

He nodded, and led her over to the shop.

After a brief period of intense negotiation with an extremely sour-faced salesman, Alice and Luke managed to rent a speeder/flying bike thing at a not too ridiculous rate.

And that was all fine and dandy, until Alice realised the problem associated with two people sharing a single bike. Limited space and lack of seatbelts meant physical contact was more or less unavoidable. _Oh…well…this could be awkward…_

"Ready?" Luke asked, seeing her hesitate, and raising an inquiring eyebrow.

"Yup," she said, with a nervous laugh, "absolutely. Completely ready to go. Let's…rock and roll."

He swung himself onto the bike, then held out his hand to her. Alice noticed that he was suddenly doing that 'keep expression completely blank and unreadable' thing again. She hated that. Her stomach twisting with butterflies, she very gingerly placed her hand in his and pulled herself into position behind him.

"Hold on to me," Luke said, when she was settled, his tone as strangely undecipherable as his face. _This is so awkward._

Very lightly, she rested her hands on his shoulders, then said, uncomfortably, "Okay. Let's go." Luke turned around, and gave her a slightly exasperated look, "You're going to fall off if you don't hold on properly. Here." He took her hands and wrapped them firmly around his waist. She blushed, and said, "Okay. Cool." Without another word, Luke revved the engines and off they went. _Oh god, this is uncomfortable._

They skimmed between sand-dunes, always keeping the two suns on their left, until, eventually Luke veered off the more or less straight course they'd been following, and began to slow down. Alice lifted one hand from around Luke's waist to shield her eyes from the sun, and saw they had come to a halt before the ruins of an igloo-style house, built of smoke-stained white stone. Luke shut off the engines and slid off the bike, holding his hand out to Alice to help her down. She dropped to the ground and glanced up at his face.

His expression was distant, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the house before them. He didn't say anything, simply walked forwards, with Alice tagging along behind him.

As he made his way towards the steps into the house, Alice held out a hand, worried, "Be careful. You don't know what's inside."

Luke glanced at her, "I sense nothing."

Alice blinked, "Right…sorry."

His eyes softened slightly, but he didn't say anything other than, "Come on."

Alice's concern turned out to be, as Luke had said, unfounded; there was nothing living inside the old house, not even the plants in the pots that still sat in bizarrely neat rows on the wall looking out onto the small, sunlit courtyard. The walls were scorched inside as well as out, and there were several deep lines gouged into the stone. Alice ran her free hand along the smooth track of one of these, and said grimly, "Laser blasts."

Luke nodded silently. She gazed around the deserted rooms, her mouth curling down at the corners at the empty feel of the house – she could only imagine how Luke must be feeling.

She shifted her weight, and something made a clinking noise as her foot brushed it. She glanced down, and bending over, picked up a fragment of pottery that had clearly once been part of a bowl. It was beautifully engraved with pictures of suns and large buffalo-like creatures travelling endlessly beneath them. She was surprised at the artistry – it reminded her strongly of Earth amongst all the spaceships and aliens.

Luke's hand closed over the shard of clay, and pulled it gently away from her. She watched him tentatively as he studied it, "This was part of my Aunt Beru's favourite bowl."

Unable to think of anything to say, Alice reached out and rested her hand gently on his arm. "Luke, I'm sorry. For…you know. Everything."

"Me too," he replied quietly, his eyes still trained on the pottery, "I'm just…frightened that you're going to be in danger and I won't be able to help you. Like I wasn't able to help my aunt and uncle."

Alice dropped her eyes, stunned into silence. After a moment, he continued, his voice tentative and distinctly uncertain, "It's nothing to do with you being able to look after yourself; I worry because I…care about you."

"…Oh," she said. It was the only thing she could think to say, as she frantically tried to deduce what exactly he meant by that. _'I care about you' in a familial kind of way? A best friend kind of way? Or…well, the only other kind of way? Is this a big declaration of love scene? I'm not ready for this, I wasn't even sure what we were before Cloud City, and now I don't have a clue…_ Luke watched her as her single syllable answer stretched between them, echoing in the empty air. Plucking up her courage, Alice said, "Luke…I'm not quite sure-"

Luke cleared his throat, cutting her off before she could continue – which in a way was lucky, because she wasn't sure what she would have said otherwise. His cheeks were red though, and he was determinedly avoiding her gaze, which was probably a bad thing, "Alice, after we rescue Han, there's something I have to do. I have to go to the Dagobah system; there's an old friend I need to see."

Unsettled by the change of topic, she said, stupidly, "Okay…?"

"I want you to come with me."

Alice blinked, startled, "What? Why?"

"You hear Ben sometimes, don't you?"

Severely startled, she said dazedly, "How do you-? I mean…yeah. How do you know that?"

"Because I can too," he said.

"Why can we hear him?" Alice asked, desperate to have this rather critical question finally answered.

Luke met her eyes, "When you hear Ben speaking to you, you're communicating with his Force ghost – fragments of his personality that didn't fully return to the Force when he died. Only someone who is attuned to the Force would be able to hear and talk to a Force ghost."

She swallowed, "So…?"

"Alice, I think you're Force sensitive."

Alice shook her head, "No. I can't be. The Force doesn't…" She trailed off, wanting to say that the Force didn't even exist where she came from – how could she possibly be a Force sensitive? Frustrated, she folded her arms and said briskly, "That can't be true."

The wind whistled hollowly around the deserted building, wrapping them in an uncomfortably desolate hush.

Luke shrugged, his expression cool, "All I know is that you've heard Ben, and as far as I can tell, only someone Force sensitive would be able to. If you come with me, maybe my friend will be able to explain it in greater depth."

"Fine," she said petulantly, "whatever."

He turned away from her, and Alice hesitated, the familiar feeling of guilt welling up inside her. "Luke," she said tentatively, "I'm-" But he cut her off, striding away towards the staircase, "Well…I guess we're done here." She stood alone in the centre of the courtyard, her eyes fixed on the sand, embarrassed, lonely, and dreading what would undoubtedly be an extremely uncomfortable ride back.

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**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	25. In Which Alice Makes an Error

Hey guys - good news! I managed to get this one final update in before I go away on holiday! Though it looks like this one will be the last update I post for a while. I hope you enjoy it, and that you all have good summers. :)

This week's **shout-outs **go to: **sarahmichellegellarfan1**, **AnaleighJames**, **ArtistsChild93**, **SocietyMember**, **Time-Dog**, **Katyperry22** and **Pyra** **Sanada**. An especially big thank you to all new reviewers - I love it when you guys do that. :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters; only Alice is mine.**

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The two of them arrived back at Mos Eisley just before it got dark, and with the temperature dropping fast, Alice was glad to have Luke's solid warmth to cling to as they flew through the shadowy city, even though he hadn't spoken a word to her since they'd left Anchorhead. This confirmed her hypothesis that she had upset him really quite a lot by being unable to reply to his confession that he cared for her. _It's not my fault, _she complained in her head, as the silence prickled uncomfortably between them, _I'm terrible at judging emotions in others. He should know that by now, surely._

There was a soft dying wheeze from the bike as Luke cut the engines, breaking into her thoughts. Alice peered around, straining her eyes to try and see through the darkness, "Are we there?"

"Yes," he said, climbing off the bike, "I'll return the speeder in the morning. Come on." He placed his hands either side of her waist, waited for her to put hers on his shoulders, then lifted her down from the speeder. She trailed closely at his shoulder as they traced the same path that they'd taken months ago when they came here with Ben, heading for the _Millennium Falcon._

There was a caped figure waiting for them, and after a brief moment of fear, Alice realised it was Lando, and not some random Batman wannabe figure.

"Welcome back," he said, raising his eyebrows at the expressions on their faces, "good trip?"

Alice resisted the urge to flick Luke a glance out of the corner of her eye, and said, in as noncommittal a tone as she could manage, "It was interesting. Where's Leia?"

"She's on board."

She nodded and swept off up the _Falcon's _ramp without a backward glance, though she could feel both Lando and Luke watching her as she left. "Leia?"

"In here, Alice," Leia called, in that long-suffering way of hers.

Far from her usual exuberant self, Alice entered quietly and settled herself into one of the chairs on the bridge, wrapping her arms around her knees and hugging them close. Leia, kneeling on the floor with several pieces of fabric spread over her lap, raised her eyebrows in concern, "Are you alright?"

"No," she replied, glumly, "let's not talk about it. What are those?"

"Your costume," her friend said, holding up the cloth and displaying it to Alice, "and you're back just in time to try it on."

Alice stared at the scraps in Leia's hands, "Where, pray tell, in the whole, even wider than previously suspected universe, would those constitute a costume, or indeed, clothing of any kind?"

"Tatooine," said Leia, with a grim edge to her tone that Alice didn't like, "Clothes. Change. Now."

"Thanks, Leia," Alice grumbled, taking them from her, "you're a real pal."

The two of them worked tirelessly through the night to 'get her into character' – both in terms of her appearance, and actually planning what she would do once she was inside. Leia allowed her about two hours of sleep, then woke her up again. The transformation process was so intense that by the time dawn had come and Alice was due to travel with Lando to Jabba's palace, she was barely recognisable.

Turned out the clothes Leia had brought her were barely clothes at all – in fact, the garment in question was closer to a leotard than anything else, and had large diamonds cut out of the fabric around Alice's waist. She was wearing copious amounts of makeup and her hair had been styled to something between an up-do and a carefully designed straggly mess.

She stared at herself in the mirror once more before stepping out to meet the boys, "I have honestly never looked more drunk than I do now. I look like I've just stepped off the streets of Ibiza, for goodness' sake."

"You don't look drunk," her friend said, trying to reason with her, "you look pretty. Honestly."

Alice turned and eviled Leia, "Ha."

"Here," Leia said, pushing a thick piece of…papyrus or something similar into her hand, "you'll need this."

"What is it?" She said, eyeing it curiously. The title at the top, written in Leia's neat handwriting, read… "Proof of former employment?" Alice read, her mouth dropping open in disbelief, "A C.V.? I need a C.V.? I thought I was supposed to be a slave, Leia, not applying for a job."

"Lando told me while you were away yesterday that all of Jabba's slaves have to be checked out to make sure they're not assassins or spies of rival criminals," Leia explained patiently, "this will help. Now come on. We've got to go."

"Fine," Alice said, with a good deal of dignity, as she marched out of the door and into the main cabin. To her mingled relief and disappointment, Luke wasn't there. Lando was though, lounging in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the room. He leapt inexplicably to his feet as she entered, and gave her an extremely odd, dizzy sort of look that she couldn't really identify.

"Alice…" Lando said, his eyes wide.

"No comments please," she snapped, tugging at the clingy hem of the ridiculously short shorts, "let's just get this over with."

Leia, who had emerged from the room behind her, gave her creation one proud nod and smiled at Alice, "Good luck you two."

"Thanks, Leia," Alice said, opening her arms for a hug. Leia blinked, but obligingly gave Alice a brief but surprisingly comforting hug.

"We'll see you in a couple of days."

"Alright." She pulled back and looked around the _Falcon_, hoping she'd get to see the crappy old spaceship again. "Kay. So…bye."

She walked to the ramp, then hesitated, and glanced over her shoulder at Leia, "Where's Luke?"

Lando answered, his tone very carefully diplomatic, "He left early; said he had to return that bike you borrowed last night. I asked him if he would stay and see you off…"

"But he didn't," she said, miserably, "okay."

Leia rested a hand gently on Alice's shoulder, "Alice-"

She gave her friend a weak smile, trying to get herself back in the slave girl zone and stop thinking about the fact that Luke didn't want to say goodbye to her, "I'm good. See you soon."

"Good luck," called Leia as Alice set off down the ramp, her tone heavy with sympathy.

BREAK

"Phew," Alice said some time later, panting slightly as they trudged through the hot sand, "I'd forgotten how steamy it is here."

"Look on the bright side," Lando said grumpily, "at least you're not wearing this ridiculous helmet."

"You look on the bright side," she retorted, "at least your hands aren't tied together."

"Hey, the rope thing was your idea, not mine."

"Yeah," Alice said, stumbling a little as her foot was sucked into a small pit of sand, "but I didn't anticipate it being so difficult to walk without hands, did I?"

They had both agreed that in the interest of keeping their disguise as realistic as possible, they would both go in full costume the whole way to Jabba's palace, just in case he had little minions hopping around in the sand. Unfortunately, this meant that Lando was wearing a leather suit and a helmet with the visor pulled right down to hide his face, and Alice's hands were bound by a rope that he was holding.

"Keep your hair on, we're almost there." She squinted against the sun and saw that they were indeed almost in the shade of Jabba's palace – the building towered in the middle of the otherwise empty desert.

"Good," she huffed, catching up with Lando, who had paused to wait for her, "do you think they'll give us a drink when we get there?"

"I wouldn't count on it," he said, amused.

They reached the huge metal doors within a few minutes, and Alice took the opportunity, before Lando knocked, to get her breath back and wipe away the lovely accumulation of sweat on her forehead.

"Yuck," she muttered, smoothing back a few stray strands of hair, "who'd want me as a servant right now?"

"Relax," Lando said, glancing at her, "Jabba isn't fussy."

Alice stared at him, her mouth wide, "You…you just-…rude. It's uncalled for."

He ignored her, and balling his hand into a fist, he rapped the door hard, "Hello?"

There was a sharp click and Alice jumped in surprise as a robotic eye-device thing sprang out of the door and seemed to examine them both suspiciously. It made some odd twittering noises, which luckily, Lando seemed to understand, "I wish to speak to Jabba." He tugged on the rope around Alice's wrists, jerking her forward. She glared at him. _Ow_. "Never mind about the girl – I have urgent business with your master. You wouldn't want to keep him waiting, would you?"

There was a brief pause, then the eye withdrew and with an ugly crunch, the door started to open.

"You're going to pay for that at some point," Alice muttered in Lando's ear as they walked inside.

"Shh."

She snapped her mouth shut and tried to adopt an attitude of quiet obedience – no easy feat when she was fuming slightly, not to mention scared witless.

Footsteps came echoing down the hall and an alien who looked like he had an octopus for a head appeared. He stopped a few feet short of them and glared at them with watery pink eyes. Then he made an odd sort of hissing noise and said, in halting English, "Welcome."

"Take me to Jabba," Lando said with a very believable air of impatience.

The doorkeeper smiled a very ugly smile, then glanced over at Alice, who dropped her eyes immediately to the floor, "This girl?"

"A gift for his mightiness," Lando said, arrogantly.

The doorkeeper let out a sharp bark of laughter, and lurching forward, grasped Alice's chin roughly and dragged her face up so he could see it more clearly. Alice bit her lip and tried not to gag as he exhaled a cloud of foul air into her face. He studied her for a moment, then smiled leeringly.

"Very well. You will follow me."

"So far, so good," Lando muttered to Alice.

"I wish you wouldn't say that," she hissed back.

The doorkeeper led them through a dark hangar into a crowded, sweaty, smelly room dominated by a huge, space-slug sitting on a throne. _Well. Now I have seen everything._

What looked like hundreds of people, aliens and humans, lined the walls, and they all stopped talking and stared as Alice and Lando passed them. _Oh man,_ Alice thought, going into freak-out mode, _what was I _thinking_?! I'm gonna _die_._ What made it even worse was that as she was glancing around, considering all the ways these people could probably dismember her, she spotted a tell-tale splash of pastel green between two female aliens in bikinis. _Uh-oh. The return of Boba Fett and the fabulous pastel ensemble._

Slowly, she turned her head back to face the front, staying as silent as possible as they were deposited in front of King Slug, or rather, Jabba the Hutt. Seen up close, he was even more vomit-inducing than he had been from across the room. Alice winced. _Of all possible life forms, it had to be a slug. Well, at least he's not a spider…_

Lando took the lead, to Alice's strong relief, stepping forward and bowing obsequiously, "Mighty Jabba, I have returned from my task, with a gift to show my devotion."

He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her forward so she ended up about two or three feet from Jabba's throne. _Oh…oh, dear god. _If her hands hadn't been tied together, she would have definitely thrown them up to cover her nose and mouth. The smell of Jabba the Hutt was…well, it was quite pungent to say the looked up, her eyes watering, just in time to see a very long and horribly slimy tongue emerge from his mouth and flick across his lips. _Okay…that was disgusting._

"Slave!" Lando gave her a soft smack around the head that probably appeared worse than it was, a none-too gentle reminder that she was currently staring in open-mouthed horror at the crime lord, "You will show the proper respect due to his mightiness Jabba the Hutt." She blinked at him and he narrowed his eyes in return.

_I get the feeling I should be doing something. _Lando gestured with one hand. Alice frowned. He lifted his eyes to the ceiling, gave a very audible huff of exasperation, and pushed her lightly into a bow, a charade that everyone in the room seemed to find hilarious.

_Ohhh. Right._

In an attempt to seem more graceful than she must currently appear, she lowered her head and sank to one knee. This show of respect was met with a rumble of amusement from her new 'owner', which she supposed was a good thing, even though the sound of his laughter made her skin crawl.

She looked up in time to see the hutt gesture to one of the several other women scattered around the room, a pretty blue-skinned being with a shock of red hair who stepped forward at once. He burbled something at the woman, and she nodded, but Alice was completely lost. For all she knew, Jabba had just said that she should be taken away and beheaded.

The woman clicked her tongue, making her jump slightly, and beckoned her forward. _Er…Lando?_ She glanced over her shoulder, but her friend had stepped back into the ranks of guards, and Alice didn't have time to find him before her new guardian was leading her off deeper into the palace. _Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear._

Alice could feel herself getting more and more twitchy the further they progressed into Jabba's dirty, dank, and frankly, stinking palace. The woman who was guiding her said nothing; in fact, she didn't even spare her a glance as she turned corner after corner. _Feeling my confidence drop further by the second…_

Suddenly, the woman stopped so abruptly that Alice almost bumped into her. She almost went to do an awkward smile/wave combo then remembered that she was, after all, supposed to be a slave, so hung her head instead. _Smooth…_

A hand appeared in her line of vision and snapped its fingers. She looked up, and the woman said something briskly in an unrecognizable language, clearly an instruction.

"Um…" Alice stared at her, "Sorry, I don't…"

"Ah." The woman tsked, then said, in heavily accented English, "Your paper."

"Paper?"

The woman nodded, and snapped her fingers again impatiently. _What does she mean paper? Why would I have paper- oh! My fake C.V.! Got it…_

Fumbling with her bound hands, she managed to pull out the piece of dry yellow paper Leia had given her, and handed it over. The woman unfolded it, studied it, then hissed, revealing some very white, very pointy teeth. She narrowed her eyes at Alice and pointed at her almost threateningly, "Stay."

_Woof, _Alice thought drily, nodding once to show her understanding. The woman gave her one more suspicious glance, then went swishing off. Now that she was alone, she took a moment to study the room she'd been brought to – it was large, and long, and full of clothes rails, like a shop. In this case, a lingerie shop. She wrinkled her nose at the rows and rows of bikinis and string-like catsuits. _I am regretting the decision to come here more and more…_

She rocked restlessly on her heels, and wondered what it was Leia had put on her CV that had made the woman actually hiss. _And what's going to happen now…?_

Footsteps echoed down the corridor beyond the door, and the woman reappeared, accompanied by the same pink-eyed alien that had met her and Lando at the door. _Oh, _Alice thought, unenthusiastically, _it's you._

He was holding her piece of paper in his hand, and gave her a sickening leer as he entered the room, "Human."

Alice raised her eyebrows. _…What's your point?_

He grinned, and chuckled thickly, "We have not had a human for many months. My master is pleased." He glanced down at the paper in his hands, then studied her with his filmy pink eyes, "You dance?"

It didn't sound like a question, but the way he was looking at her suggested a response was required. So she said, "Um…no?" _Please say Leia didn't say I could dance…_

He gave an irritable hiss, but nodded, and spoke sharply to the woman. She bowed her head passively, and with one final unpleasant smile, the man left. Alice turned to her companion helplessly, hoping against hope that she wasn't going to have to dance. _Pleeease god, don't make me dance…_

"You will…how do you say…" She lifted her right hand and started fanning herself, then gave her a pointed look, as if to say, 'get it?'

_Hallelujah. _"Okay," she agreed, unable to stop herself from breaking into a relieved smile, "sure."

"Good," the woman said, clicking her fingers and beckoning her forward, "Come quickly. We must make your hair."

Reluctantly, Alice sat where she was told – at once her mentor grabbed her face and started turning it this way and that. Alice would honestly be surprised if anything was left of the make-up Leia had layered on her that morning; she was relatively sure she'd sweated it all off on the walk over here. Clearly her companion thought so too: after another moment, she tittered quietly, grabbed a spacey-wacey face wipe of some kind and started scrubbing at Alice's face, obviously intending to make a fresh start. _Urgh,_ Alice thought indignantly, squirming as the woman mopped at her as if she was three years old, _Leia did this much more nicely._

After two hours (_two hours!_) of dabbing, brushing, powdering and attempting to tame Alice's increasingly frizzy hair, the woman, who it turned out was called Nyra, pronounced her complete and ready to take up slave duties.

"Two minutes," Nyra said, pointing at a large and extremely unhelpful alien clock on the wall, "then we go."

"Yup," Alice said, feeling extremely sick, "gotcha."

Nyra shook her head, and left. Alice stared at herself in the mirror – she was almost unrecognisable beneath a veritable plethora of various makeup products, which she probably couldn't even name let alone apply herself. Her hair had been sprayed with what she assumed was some kind of hairspray, but otherwise, it had been left as Leia had done it earlier.

_Gosh. This is a…distinctive look. _The dusky eyeshadow gave her a bit of a shock; for a minute she thought she'd somehow gotten two black eyes without realising it. The matching dark blue/purple lipstick also gave her a tinge of the Goth…but seeing as she was only going to be fanning His Mightiness the Ugly Slug, she supposed it didn't really matter.

There was a brisk knock at the door, and Alice flinched away as it opened. To her relief, she recognised Lando standing outside.

"Thank goodness," she said, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the room, "I'm freaking out, this is all so much scarier than I thought it'd be, and that woman was wearing latex, and-"

"Hey," he said, catching her by the shoulders, "calm down. You'll be fine – you were great out there before. Just…blend and I promise, everything is going to be alright."

"Okay," she said, unhappily.

He gave her a reassuring smile, and pushing up his visor, leaned forward and gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

This rather lovely gesture was punctuated by a loud gasp from the doorway, followed by a volley of alien insults from Nyra, who had just appeared in the room. She swatted Lando around the head, and sent him running before Alice could even decide if she was allowed to laugh or not.

Her task of protecting her fellow slave girls apparently complete, Nyra turned back to Alice, and gave her a quick once over. "Perfect," she said, with some satisfaction, pushing one loose curl of hair back into place, "come now. Time to go."

"Um…?" Alice held up her still bound wrists tentatively. Nyra tutted to herself, and with strong fingers she quickly undid the knotted rope. "There. Follow."

She did as she was told, and trotted back down the corridors after Nyra, hyperventilating the entire way. _What if the random aliens try to talk to me? What if they tell me to dance? What if Boba Fett recognises me? Oh god, oh god, oh god…_

"_Trust in the Force, Alice. And you'll do well."_

_Ben._ _You have no notion of how good it is to hear your voice, my ghostly pal._

And for a wonder, for the first time since he'd started haunting her, Ben replied. _"Glad to be of assistance."_

An irrepressible grin spread over Alice face, and it lingered there as she entered Jabba's main chamber. She had an undead Jedi giving her advice. That had to be worth something…


End file.
